Flemingia macrophylla – Agroforestry Shrub for Biomass or Animal Forage – Seeds

Flemingia is a nitrogen fixing biomass/animal forage species that has performed very well for us under Central Florida conditions. This species does not grow large like many legume trees, staying more like a dense bushy plant not often exceeding 10 feet in height. One might think of it as a similar form to pigeon pea, but it is a genuinely long lived perennial. The leaves are very large, mimicking a bean plant more than the tiny leaflets commonly seen in legume trees. This species makes a much more appropriate mulching material than many legume trees, and also has an appreciable amount of leaf material per cut when gathering for animal forage. This species was readily eaten by goats and rabbits where we formerly worked, the h.e.a.r.t Village. Plants have shown good vigor in acidic, droughty Central Florida soils. The plants readily regrow from aggressive cutting/harvesting. Plants seem have poorer performance in the alkaline soils on the ECHO farm in Ft. Myers. Plants can freeze to the ground but have readily resprouted from ground level at the h.e.a.r.t Village, where they have persisted for ten years or so. In this setting, the species has not naturalized which is a major problem with many of the most useful agroforestry legume trees such as Leucaena leucocephella or Albizia lebbeck. Deep shade has been a bane to the specimens at the h.e.a.r.t Village, slowly weakening them and eventually killing them.

This underutilized and mostly overlooked nitrogen fixing shrub has a lot of potential for Florida agroforesters or people that raise herbivorous animals. ToonaS

In our past experience, seeds germinate fairly readily. Seeds should be started in a nursery setting and later transplanted to the field.

30 seeds

Flemingia macrophylla