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Flemingia macrophylla
Fabaceae FAMILY

Flemingia macrophylla

Flemingia macrophylla

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitShrub
Growth—

A plant of the moist to wet tropics, where it is found at elevations from sea level up to 2,000 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 28°c, but can tolerate 12 - 36°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,300 - 2,200mm, but tolerates 1,100 - 3,500mm[1]. Prefers a sunny position, but is tolerant of light shade[2, 1]. Capable of surviving on poorly drained soils with waterlogging[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 7, tolerating 4 - 8[1]. Established plants can tolerate fairly long dry spells[2]. Tolerant of up to 4 months drought a year[1]. Often cultivated as a green manure and dye plant, it has been introduced into many areas outside its native range. It sometimes escapes from cultivation and becomes naturalized - in some Pacific Islands, including the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands and Tonga, it is reported to be invasive[3]. Plants are moderately able to survive fires[2]. Good weed control is required during the first 6 months of sowing since the plants are relatively slow to establish; once established, they require little attention[2]. A two year old stand of plants with a spacing of 50cm x 400cm can produce about 6.8 tonnes of dry woody stems per hectare for fuel[2]. Plants can be cut more frequently than every 3 months, but preferably not at intervals of less than 40 days. With an excellent coppicing capacity, the shrub will survive under this cutting regime for many years[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[4].

Propagation

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing in order 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. When planting in a new area, seed should be sown with a suitable strain of Bradyrhizobium such as CIAT 4203 or 4215. Cuttings[5]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Flemingia+macrophylla>

Pollinators

Bees, Insects

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  3. [3]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  4. [4]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.
  5. [5]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  6. [6]Edible Leaves of the Tropics — Martin. F. W.; Ruberte. R. M. & Meitzner. L. S. · Echo. USA. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9653360-1-8 ↩︎A terse guide, giving reasonable detail on the more common leaf crops and brief information on a wide range of lesser known plants.
  7. [7]Phytochemical and Pharmacological potential of Flemingia Roxb. Ex W.T.Aiton (Fabaceae) — Kavita Ghalot; V.K.Lal.; S.Jha · 2011 · http://www.arjournals.org/index.php/ijpm/index · ISBN 0975-0185 ↩︎
  8. [8]Plants and People of Nepal — Manandhar. N. P. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-527-6 ↩︎Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.
  9. [9]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.