Inga lateriflora
Miq.
Lateralflower inga
(c) Guillaume Delaitre, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Guillaume Delaitre
(c) Guillaume Delaitre, some rights reserved (CC BY)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Pod pulp
The sweet pulp of the fruit and pods is eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in savanna and rainforests.
Amazon, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guianas, Guyana, Peru, South America, Suriname, Venezuela,
How to Identify
A tree. It grows 25 m tall. The twigs are thin and cylinder shaped. The leaves are compound. The flowers are in groups on young and old twigs. The flowers are yellowish-white. The fruit are pods 10-15 cm long by 1 cm wide. They are swollen over the seeds. There are about 11 seeds. The pod pulp is sweet and edible.
How to Grow
Plants grow easily from seeds. Seeds germinate in 1-2 weeks given moisture and shade.
Medicinal Uses
An infusion of the bark, mixed with salt, is used to bathe sores and ulcers. The bark is used to treat sores, wounds and cuts.
Other Uses
A black dye is obtained from the bark. It is mainly used for colouring basketry. The wood of Inga species is generally attractive, but it has a coarse texture, is susceptible to attack by dry-wood termites and is not durable in the soil.
Notes
Also as Mimosaceae.
Names & Synonyms
Baniwa, Doho arau, Guama yaragua, Guamillo, Guamo, Guamo cinta, Karayek, Pilon, Shimbillo, Shirada, Yaragua
References (8)
- Grandtner, M. M. & Chevrette, J., 2013, Dictionary of Trees, Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology. Academic Press p 356
- Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 441
- Linnaea 19:131. 1847
- Lopez-Diago, D. & Garcia, N., 2021, Wild edible fruits of Colombia. Biota ColomBiana 22 (2) p 38
- Maas, P.J. M., Non-Timber Forest Products of the North-West District of Guyana Part 2. The 85 most important NTFP species. p 120
- Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 115
- Roa, J. A. G. & Boada, D. S. G., 2018, Fundación para el Fortalecimiento de la Fruticultura y Plantas Alimenticias no Convencionales en Colombia.
- van Roosmalen, M.G.M., 1985, Fruits of the Guianan Flora. Utrecht Univ. & Wageningen Univ. p 238
