Common Name:

General Information

Ateleia herbert-smithii is a tree; it usually grows from 10 - 20 metres tall[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use of its wood. A good pioneer species for restoring native woodland and establishing woodland gardens.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Colombia; C. America - Panama to Nicaragua.

Habitat

Edges of dry woodlands, secondary growth formations and grassland.

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	15.00 m
Pollinators	Wind
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a sunny position[]. Prefers dry rocky hillsides but also found on black clay soils and can tolerate waterlogged soils[]. Established plants are drought-tolerant[].
Trees do not survive fires very well[].
This species is the only known dioecious and wind-pollinated species in the family Fabaceae. Both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[].
Although the male trees are heavily visited by pollen-collecting social bees, the tree is wind-pollinated and the seed wind-dispersed. The wind-dispersed fruits move up to several hundred meters into open pastures. The very small geographic distribution of this tree appears to be due to a combination of its dioecious behaviour, wind pollination, wind-dispersal, and slow rate of reaching an age of abundant seed production (it can take 20 - 30 years before the trees produce seeds)[].
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[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

A light-demanding, natural pioneer species which rapidly colonizes open ground, shading out grass. With its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, this is a very good species to use when restoring native woodland and can also be used for establishing woodland gardens[].
The plants good resprouting ability makes it ideal for live fencing[].

Other Uses

The wood is hard, strong, fine-textured and quite easy to work. It is used in making posts and material for
house construction. The sapwood is preferred for making wooden handles because of its strength

Propagation

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and benefits 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.

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