Inga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iInga spp.
Ice Cream Bean Flower (Inga edulis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Genus: Inga

This article is about the genus of plant. For other uses, see Inga (disambiguation).

Inga is a genus of tropical trees and shrubs, member of the infrafamily Ingeae. Inga's leaves are pinnate, and flowers generally white. Many of the hundreds of species are used ornamentally.

Crop rotation techniques using species of Inga such as I. Edulis ("ice-cream bean"), or known as "ice cream", have been developed to restore soil fertility, and thereby stem the tide of continual slashing and burning of the rainforest. ^{[1] [2]}

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Haugen, C., Revelo, N. "Amazon Rainforest Restoration and Conservation in Ecuador: Inga spp.". Visited 2006, September 18.
2. ^ Elkan, D. (2005, February). The Rainforest Saver. The Ecologist, 35 (1), 56-63.

[edit] External links

• I. Edulis at FACT Net plain text HTML
• Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation