LEGUME FAMILY (LEGUMINOSAE) 



MIMOSA SUBFAMILY (MIMOSOIDEAE; MIMOSACEAE) 



63. Guama venezolano 



A rapidly <jrowin<2; spreading tree with a dense 

 crown, related to the native guaba and guama and 

 introduced for coffee shade, characterized by: 

 (1) alternate pinnate leaves with usually 3 or 4 

 pairs (sometimes 2) of obovate to oblong, nearly 

 hairless, stiif, slightly leathery leaflets, 21/2-6 

 inches long, becoming larger toward apex, short- 

 stalked, and with a round raised gland Yiq inch 

 across on the wingless axis between each pair of 

 leaflets; (2) the loose ball -like flower cluster about 

 2 inches across the many spreading threadlike 

 white stamens, the numerous individual flowers on 

 stalks i/j-'^s iiifh long; and (3) fruit a flattened 

 but thick pod 4-G inches long and 1-1% inches 

 broad with raised border, and often a little curved. 



A small to medium-sized evergreen tree, reach- 

 ing a height of 25 feet and trunk diameter of 3 

 inches or more at age of about 5 years. Wlien 

 older, attaining a height of 30 feet and a diameter 

 of 10 inches. Bark brown, smooth at first, ridged 

 slightly later. The inner bark is light brown and 

 slightly bitter. The twigs are dark brown and 

 finely hairy when young. 



Leaves are 7-12 inches long, with a brownish- 

 green or brown axis 21-4-6 inches long, finely hairy, 

 not winged, and ending in a point beyond last 

 pair of leaflets. The leaflets have short stout stalks 

 about I's inch long. Leaflet blades are 1-31/^ 

 inches wide, mostly short-pointed at both ends and 

 broadest above middle, not toothed, nearly hairless 

 except on veins, above yellow green to green and 

 slightly shiny, and beneath dull light green. 



Flower clusters (umbels) are borne at the end of 

 a lateral stalk Vo-l inch long, usually 2 clusters at 

 base of a leaf. The narrow tubular light green 

 calyx of the slightly fragrant flowers is %6 iii^^i 

 long, 5-toothed and finely hairy; the narrow tubu- 

 lar whitish-green corolla about % inch long, 5- 

 toothed, and finely hairy; the numerous white 

 stamens are %~1 inch long including the tube 



Inga quaternata Poepp. & EndL* 



nearly half the length and spreading 34 i^ich 

 across; and the pistil about yg inch long consists 

 of narrow ovary and threadlike style. 



The pods are about i/^-% inch thick, mostly 

 roundecl at both ends with a narrow point at apex 

 and stalk at base, light green, turning brownish, 

 becoming hairless, and do not split open. There 

 are several oblong seeds about <% inch long in a 

 thin white sweetish pulp. This whitish pulp is 

 edible but too thin for the pods to be of commer- 

 cial importance. Probably flowering and fruiting 

 ii'regularly through the year. Flowers collected 

 in July and August. 



The whitish sapwood is hard. The tree has 

 been used only for coffee shade and fuel in Puerto 

 Rico to date, mainly because of relatively recent 

 introduction. 



Introduced about 1930 and distributed by the 

 Puerto Rico Forest Service for coffee shade, this 

 tree was at first thought to be immune to attack 

 by hormiguilla, an insect pest on the related na- 

 tive species. It has since proved susceptible; but 

 as the tree is very adaptable, survives well, pro- 

 vides a low shade at early age, and is very easily 

 proj)agated, it probably will continue to be used 

 for this purpose. Now found in coffee planta- 

 tions in the upper and lower Cordillera regions 

 and in the moist limestone region. 



Range. — Southern Mexico and Guatemala to 

 Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. 



Other common names. — bribri (Panama) ; 

 shimbillo (Peru). 



Botanical synonyms. — Inga roussoviana Pit- 

 tier, /. specioshsima Pittier. 



Besides the 2 native and 1 introduced species 

 described here, a few other species of Inga have 

 been planted for coffee shade. Guama peludo 

 (Inga fastuosa Willd.*), from Venezuela, is easily 

 recognized by the reddish-hairy twigs and large 

 flat pods up to 12 inches long and 21/^ inches wide, 

 also reddish hairy. 



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