Ice Cream Bean Tree - Inga Edulis

I just foraged an Ice Cream Bean Pod - woohoo!


I couldn't find a dedicated thread, so let's try to gather all our bits of knowledge in to one place (I.E. anyone have good info on how to grow/care for this tree?)


My observations:

I know that it's leguminous, nitrogen fixing and a beautiful large tree.
The pod grows large with large black seeds, with each seed surround by a bit of sweet, edible "fluff" (I liked it, but the texture was unique, may not be everyone's cup of tea).
This specimen was growing in Zone 9/10 coastal (inside Seaworld, if you're local to San Diego and want to get a pod yourself).
One of the seeds had already started to sprout within the pod, which seems to indicate it will not need scarification to germinate.



Questions:

Anyone know if the leaves/seeds/pod husks are edible to livestock (or humans)?
Does it need microbial inoculation to be N-fixing, or is it good to go?
Frost and drought tolerance? (the specimen I found receives artificial irrigation and was probably planted as a grown tree, and not from seed, so it's not necessarily a good indicator)

I hope to update this thread with a few pictures and my attempts to grow it from the seeds I found.

There are manny species of Inga and somme taste better while otthers are more for decorative purposes ( wich is probably what you got).
Never heard of a grafted tree and they like lots of water.
Im growing an unknown specie from Costa Rica where they have more than 60 different species there.
A lot of the Inga species are highly endangered.
Growing from seed its simple as you seened the seeds are allready germinated in the pods.
You dont have to innoculate them with bacteria because the bacteria is allready living in the soil and it doesnt attach on the tree roots unless the tree releases sugars to feed the bacteria and make root nodules.
Great tree to have.
This is what i have.See the colored seeds.

Dustin Rhodes wrote:



Anyone know if the leaves/seeds/pod husks are edible to livestock (or humans)?

According to Wiki, the seeds are edible if they're cooked, but toxic when raw. Leaves are medicinal, but not used as an actual food. Nothing on the pods themselves.

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:

Dustin Rhodes wrote:



Anyone know if the leaves/seeds/pod husks are edible to livestock (or humans)?

According to Wiki, the seeds are edible if they're cooked, but toxic when raw. Leaves are medicinal, but not used as an actual food. Nothing on the pods themselves.

The seeds are eaten by somme south americans roasted and they sell them as a cinema snack.
But not all species have edible seeds .

Dustin Rhodes wrote:
Frost and drought tolerance? (the specimen I found receives artificial irrigation and was probably planted as a grown tree, and not from seed, so it's not necessarily a good indicator)

Dave's Garden (which is usually a source of good information) says it's a tropical tree requiring zone 9b or warmer (minimum temp 25F) to survive.  This other site is in accord, and has more detailed growing information.

Best informations about Inga trees is on Tropicalfruitforum ( wich is from where i come from on Permies) but the site is locked, hopefully just temporary.