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Enterolobium schomburgkii
Fabaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Enterolobium schomburgkii

Enterolobium schomburgkii

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

Some people are allergic to the dust produced when working with the wood[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
Growth—

Succeeds in full sun to fairly dense shade[2]. Grows best in a fertile, well-drained, sandy soil that is rich in organic matter[1, 2]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[3].

Propagation

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and benefits from scarification before sowing to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Sow the treated seed in a sunny position in a nursery seedbed. A high germination rate can be expected from treated seeds, with the seed sprouting within 10 - 15 days[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Enterolobium+schomburgkii>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
  2. [2]Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition. — Lorenzi. H. · Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil. · 2002 · ISBN 85-86714-15-1 ↩︎Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
  3. [3]Nodulation Plants in GRIN Taxonomy — United States Department of Agriculture · http://www.ars-grin.gov/~sbmljw/cgi-bin/taxnodul.pl?language=en ↩︎An online database listing plants that have either positive or negative reports on root and stem nodulation with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
  4. [4]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  5. [5]Forest Stewardship Council. — http://www.fsc.dk/index.php?id=256&PHPSESSID=367043b95e93a891cf96369e9264cd03 ↩︎The site contains information on the properties of some less well-known tropical timbers. The Forest Stewardship Council works actively to protect tropical forests by encouraging sustainable harvesting of the trees.
  6. [6]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.