Accession Count: 6
Common Name:
palo pinto
Family Name:
Fabaceae
Botanical Name:
Chloroleucon mangense
Sub Species:
Variety:
Forma:
Cultivar:
Characteristics:
The Chloroleucon mangense is a tree that can grow 20 feet tall. The bark begins green but after peeling the trunk is layered with dark and light browns. This tree can grow inch to half inched spikes on its branches. The young branches are an olive-green with yellow notches that are perpendicular to the upward growth. The leaves are opposite, compound, and bipinnate. The flowers are small with white powdery-puff clusters (5). The flowers produce seed pods that are long and green when young.After maturation the pods turn tan. The pods can produce up to ten seeds.
Compound:
Chl man
Geographic Origin:
Southern Mexico, Tropical America
Ecozone Origin:
Neotropic
Biome Origin:
Natural History:
The Chloroleucon mangense originated in Mexico, commonly known as the palo pinto, this tree has great distribution and beyond Mexico, it was able to spread and grow into The Caribbean and Central America, and parts of Cuba. Now the distribution of seeds from the tree has worked its way through most of South America, being present in many countries such as Brazil and is present in the Amazon Ranforest.
Cultivation Notes:
“The varieties of C. mangense with relatively low leaf-formula and broad leaflets are decisively distinguished from South American C. tortum and C. tenuiflorum only by straight or falcate but never spirally coiled pod. These are far from evenly distributed within the species as a whole: Cuban var. lentiscifolia, for example, is prevailingly glabrous but occasionally pilosulous, whereas the reverse is true of var. vincentis and var. leucospermum, and all known examples of var. mangense and var. mathewsii are pubescent to some degree. Length and width of the fully mature pod are, within narrow limits, correlated with dispersal. However, the length of the fruit is not determined by number of ovules or seeds.”(4)
Ethnobotany:
A multi-trunked small tree with spreading branches with patterns of black and white splotches, often hollow inside, providing a shelter for many invertebrates, and small mammals. The wood of Chloroleucon mangense is very sought after for firewood and is used in construction to make durable posts. The beans and leafage are often a food source for certain livestock, as well as shade for the livestock as well. Although because of the thorny branches it is not usually used for shade by humans.
Height:
6 - 10 feet
Width:
16 - 20 feet
Growth Rate:
Moderate Growing
Grow Season:
Spring
Flower Season:
ForeSummer
Color:
Green
Function:
Habitat
Spread:
Spreading
Allergen:
Non-allergenic
Invasive:
Invasive
Toxicity:
Benign
Hardy:
Semi-hardy
Water Use:
Moderate Water Use
