Exostyles venusta
Exostyles venusta
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant of dappled woodland shade[1]. It grows on sany soils in the wild[2]. Although many species within the family Fabaceae have a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria, this species is said to be devoid of such a relationship and therefore does not fix atmospheric nitrogen[3].
Propagation
Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and may benefit 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. The seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a partially shaded position in a nursery seedbed. A low germination rate can be expected from untreated seed, with the seed sprouting within a few weeks[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Exostyles+venusta>
Pollinators
Bees
References
- [1]Brazilian Trees. Volume 3. — Lorenzi. H. · Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil. · 2009 · ISBN 85-86714-34-4 ↩︎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.
- [2]A Revision of the Genus Exostyles Schott (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) — Mansano V.de F. & Lewis G.P. · 2004 ↩︎
- [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.