Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Inga schimpfii Harms; Inga spectabilis var. schimpfii (Harms) Little; Mimosa spectabilis Vahl

Common name(s): [more details]

English: silky inga

Spanish: guaba de machete, guava de machete, guava machete, guavo machete

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Tree to about 10 m tall; young branches sericeous, glabrate, sharply angular; leaves 6-8-foliolate, axis about 11-25 cm long, glabrous, petiole about 1-7 cm log, rachis alate, to about 1 cm broad; glands sessile, about 1.5-2 mm broad; leaflets essentially sessile, blades coriaceous, oblong to obovate-oblong, 7-25 cm long, 3.5-12 cm broad, apex obtuse to acute, base rounded or subcordate, surfaces glabrous, secondary veins prominent; inflorescences axillary, paniculate, the axes sericeous with fulvous hairs, glabrate; bracts and bracteoles sericeous, caducous, the bracts lanceolate, bracteoles ovate; flowers sessile, about 30 mm long, calyx subsericeous, 6-8 mm long, 2-2.5 mm broad, corolla sericeous, 15-17 mm long, stamens about 30 mm long; fruit somewhat compressed, without strong angles or margins, glabrous, 30-50 cm long, 4-5.5 cm wide, 1-3 cm thick."  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971)

"Árbol de hasta 30 m de altura y 150 cm de diàmetro, los especímenes grandes con raíces tablares hasta 1 m de altura; a menudo el tronco inferior acanalado; corteza lisa grisácea, copa estrecha, de ramas ascendentes en forma de torre; follaje dnso de color verde oscuro, brillante y coriáceo; las ramitas con 4 ángulos o 4 alas estrechas; hojas compuestas, raquis alado, con 2-3 pares de folíolos ampliamente elípticos, coriaceous, los más grandes de 15-25 x 10-15 cm; hojas sin pubescencia; nectarios foliares poco profundos, en forma de plato; inflorescencias fasciculadas alrededor del ápice de la ramita o en ramitas laterals, solitarias o en pares, cada inflorescencia de 5-10 cm de longitud; flores dispuestas en una espiga compactada, subtendida plor escamas usualmente persistentes; flores de 3-4.5 cm de longitud, fragrantes, crema-verdosas con estambres blancos; legumbre 25-60 x 4-5.5 cm, coriácea, péndula, lisa o convexa, recta o ligeramente curvada, las caras con lenticelas, sin pubescencia" (Pennington and Revelo, 1997; p. pp. 106-108).

Habitat/ecology:  Moist uplands in the Galápagos Islands (McMullen, 1999; p. 56).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela; cultivated elsewhere in the neotropics (GRIN)

"Inga spectabilis tiene una amplia distributió, extendiéndose desde el sur de México a Venezuela y a través de los países andinos a Perú. Debido a su cultivo extensivo por su fruto comestible, la distributió natural es aún confusa." (Pennington and Revelo, 1997)

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	Pennington, T. D./Revelo, N. (1997) (p. 106)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	Pennington, T. D./Revelo, N. (1997) (p. 106)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Inga spectabilis is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Inga spectabilis as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Inga spectabilis may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

McMullen, C. K. 1999. Flowering plants of the Galápagos. Comstock Pub. Assoc., Ithaca, N.Y. 370 p.

Pennington, T. D./Revelo, N. 1997. El género Inga en el Ecuador: morfología, distribución y usos. The Royall Botanic Gardens, Kew. 177 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wiggins, I. L./Porter, D. M. 1971. Flora of the Galapágos Islands. Stanford University Press. 998 pp.