Phenology of the rope whitey Inga edulis (Fabales: Mimosoideae) in two agroecosystems of Quindío, Colombia

Abstract

Inga edulis is a widely used shadow species in the coffee plantations of Colombia. The phenology of this spe-cies was studied in a silvopastoril and coffee agroecosystem in the Quindío, department, Colombia. Based on monthly observations, the vegetative and reproductive phases were recorded. Additionally, the flowers were marked with the aim to observe the duration of the reproductive events and to describe the anthesis. Inga edu-lis showed all the reproductive and vegetative phenophases, though the foliage fall was not evident. In both agroecosystems, the plants suffered two periods of flowering, each with 4 to 6 months of duration, whereas fruiting, leaf production and foliage fall were constant. The intensity of some phenophases showed a coinci-dence with the precipitation. There are marked differences in the period of anthesis phenology synchronization between our results and similar studies in the tropics, which suggests a possible phenological variation along their geographical distribution.