Inga

{{Short description|Genus of legumes}}

{{about|the genus of plant|other uses|Inga (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Inga_edulis_Taub57.png

| image_caption = Ice-cream-bean (Inga edulis) parts drawing

| display_parents = 2

| taxon = Inga

| authority = Mill.

| type_species = Inga vera

| type_species_authority = Willd.

| synonyms =

• Affonsea A.St.-Hil. (1833)
• Amosa {{small|Neck. (1790), opus utique oppr.}}
• Feuilleea {{small|L. ex Kuntze (1891), nom. superfl.}}
• Ingaria {{small|Raf. (1838)}}

| synonyms_ref = [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30001555-2 Inga Mill.] Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

|subdivision = Hundreds, see List of Inga species

}}

File:Inga sp. MHNT.BOT.2010.6.51.jpg]]

Inga is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" The Guardian 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. Inga{{'}}s leaves are pinnate, and flowers are generally white. Many of the hundreds of species are used ornamentally.

Several related plants have been placed into this genus at one time, for example Yopo (Cohoba, Mopo, Nopo or Parica – Anadenanthera peregrina – as Inga niopo).{{cite web |title=USDA GRIN taxonomy:GRIN Species Records of Inga |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?6044 |access-date=23 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014160011/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?6044 |archive-date=14 October 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}

The seeds are covered with sweet white powder. The pulp covering the seeds is lightly fibrous and sweet, and rich in minerals; it is edible in the raw state. The tree's name originates from the Tupi word in-gá meaning "soaked", due to the fruit powder consistency.{{cite web |title=Significado de ingá (dicionário inFormal) |url=http://www.dicionarioinformal.com.br/significado/ing%C3%A1/1281/ |language=pt}} The tree usually blooms twice a year.

Within the Inga genus there are around 300 species, most of them native and growing in the Amazon forest region although some species are also found in Mexico, Greater and Lesser Antilles and other countries in South America, being an exclusively neotropical genus. The trees are usually found by river and lake edges because their seeds are carried there by floods.

File:Inga-species.jpg

File:Feuille d'Inga.jpg

All Inga species produce their seeds in "bean-like" pods and some can reach up to 1 m long, in general the pods are 10–30 cm long.

Trees can reach up to 15 metres and they are widely used for producing shade over coffee plants. The plant benefits from well drained soil. The flowers are white with some green and the tree can produce fruits almost all year long.

Inga species, most notably Inga edulis (commonly known as "ice-cream-bean" or, in Spanish, guama, guaba, guaba de bejuco or paterna depending on the country or region) often have edible pulp. The name derives from the fact that those of I. edulis resembles vanilla ice cream in flavour.

In Ecuador, Inga edulis is known as guaba de bejuco and, the other popular species there, Inga spectabilis

, as guaba de machete.Sotomayor, Ignacio and Duicela, Luis (1995) "Control Integrado de las Principales Enfermedades Foliares del Cafeto en el Ecuador" [https://books.google.com/books?id=G30zAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA44 (preview in Spanish)]