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Agroforestree database

This database provides detailed information on a total of 670 agroforestry tree species. It is intended to help field workers and researchers in selecting appropriate species for agroforestry systems and technologies.

For each species, the database includes information on identity, ecology and distribution, propagation and management, functional uses, pests and diseases and a bibliography.

This project has been funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID, the European Union and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

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Allanblackia floribundaFlowering occurs in September to February with fruits developing slowly, but in Nigeria they are available in most seasons. Short-tongued insects pollinate this species. Monkeys such as Lophocebus albigena, Cercopithecus pogonias, Cercopithecus cephus, Cercopithecus pogonias and Cercopithecus nictitans eat the flowers and fruits, thus dispersing the seeds.
Allanblackia ulugurensisFlowering occurs in October to January. Fruits start to ripen in December and continue until February. Insects pollinate this species. Rodents and monkeys eat the flowers and fruits, thus dispersing the seeds
Alnus japonicaThe tree flowers and fruits from April to November in its natural habitat. Pollination and seed dispersal is by wind. Flowers are unisexual.
Altingia excelsaIn Java, the species flowers and fruits throughout the year. The peak flowering is in April-May. The peak fruiting season (the best period for seed collection) is August -October. The morphology of the flower (the petals and sepals are absent and there are numerous stamens) indicates wind pollination. The seeds are sweetly scented and dispersed by ants and to a lesser extent by monkeys and birds that feed on the seeds.
Artocarpus heterophyllusTrees start flowering and fruiting 2-8 years after planting. Flower and fruit loads are initially low and improve with increasing size and age; trees 2 years old produce about 25 flowers and 3 fruits; trees 5 years old bear as many as 840 flowers, and trees 6 years old 1500 flowers. However, only 15-18 fruits develop due to the low production of female spikes (about 0.6-5% of the total number of inflorescences). Young trees bear more male than female flowers at a ratio of 4:1; production of female flower increases with age. A male-to-female ratio of 2:1 produces 250 fruits per tree, and as the trees ages, fruit productivity declines.

In suitable environments trees bear fruits and flowers throughout the year, but in areas with distinct dry and wet seasons, flowering occurs in the wet season. In young trees, fruits are usually borne on branches and in older trees, on trunks and roots.

The tree is wind and insect pollinated. Insects normally visit the scented male flowers, which release pollen that is carried to female flowers by the wind. Wilting and drying stigmas are the best indicators of fruit set. Fruits mature in 80-160 days, and a sweet and strong aroma indicates that the fruit is ripe.
Artocarpus integerSeedlings start bearing fruit after 3-6 years; clonal trees bear after 2-4 years. Flowers may be found at any time of year, but bloom is concentrated around February-April in Malaysia, July-August in Java, and September-October in Australia. Female flower heads are found only on cauliflorous shoots; most male heads are formed on shoots in the periphery of the canopy. This may facilitate pollination by wind, although the pollen is sticky. Insects visit the scented male inflorescence, not the female ones, which lack nectar. Fruit growth is rapid during the 1st weeks following stigma emergence. Stigmas remain receptive for 1-2 weeks. Maturation time is 3-6 months, depending on genotype and climate.
Aucomea klaineanaIn Oukomé trees, new leaves appear from September to December and are bright red for about a week. Trees start to flower when they are about 10 years old, but fruiting only begins after 15 years. Flowering starts in August and lasts for 1-2 months depending on weather conditions. Individual flowers last for a few days and are insect pollinated (bees and flies). Fruiting starts in September with fruits growing to full-size in about 40 days, but mature after about 80 days. Fruiting is annual, but large quantities of seeds are produced only every 2-3 years. A healthy, dominant mature tree can produce up to 20 000 seeds. Seeds are wind-dispersed up to 80 m from the parent tree.
Bischofia javanicaB. javanica is dioecious and flowers annually from 8 years onward. In west Java, flowering usually takes place in August-November (-December) and mature fruits can be found in (January-) February-June with a peak in March. In central Java, the fruiting period is from May to November, and in east Java from November-December.
Borassus aethiopum B. aethiopum is dioecious. Flowering and fruiting take place whole year round. Pollination is largely done by insects. Elephants are fond of the fruit and are reputed to help in dispersing the seed.
Canarium ovatumFunctional hermaphrodites exist in C. ovatum. The inflorescences emerge from the leaf axils of the current season’s growth so that flowering coincides with the annual flush, in the Philippines between March and June. In both male and female trees, the order of blooming of the flowers in the inflorescence is basipetal. Anthesis of male as well as female flowers takes place between 4 and 6 p.m. Anthers dehisce and stigma becomes receptive at anthesis or immediately after it. The flowers are insect pollinated. Fruit set is about 85%.

If pollination is successful the ovary begins to enlarge after 1 week and the petals start to drop off. Fruit growth lasts 10 months and follows a sigmoid curve, during which the short, dark green fruitlet ripens into an oblong, purplish-black fruit. On average, seedling trees start producing fruit 5-6 years after planting. Clonal trees bear fruit 3-4 years after planting.
Casuarina cunninghamianaThe species is dioecious with individuals bearing unisexual flowers. The pollen is light and thus favours wind pollination. The fertilized female cone enlarges and becomes hard. Seeds are shed rapidly at maturity. Depending upon the season and locality, flowering and seed setting varies and happens either once or twice in a year.
Casuarina equisetifoliaC. equisetifolia is wind pollinated. Trees are mostly monoecious. Female cones mature about 18-20 weeks after anthesis and open shortly after this, releasing small samara. Fruit on a tree does not all mature at the same time, often presenting a problem for seed collection. In cultivation, C. equisetifolia hybridizes with C. glauca and C. junghuhniana.
Casuarina oligodonIn its natural range in Papua New Guinea, flowering starts around early August and cones are ready to collect by November-December. Flowers are unisexual. The tree is wind pollinated.
Chukrasia tabularisC. tabularis is monoecious, flowers are unisexual. Flowering normally begins when the tree is 8-9 years and in some places there is a masting period every 2-3 years. It flowers and fruits annually; in Southeast Asia, the tree is leafless from December to March. Flowering starts in April and continues until June/July and the fruits ripen in January-March. The winged fruits are disseminated by wind.
Cupressus lusitanicaTrees 1st bear fruit at 6-9 years, or later on unfavourable sites. Flowering takes place at the driest time of the year, with male and female flowers arising at different points on the crown (monosexual). Cones develop within 6 months after wind pollination and take 2 years to mature.
Emblica officinalisCross-pollination is desirable. Honeybees work the flowers in the morning and late evening. It is now known that lack of pollination is the cause of up to 70% shedding of flowers in the first 3 weeks after onset of blooming. The emblic is sensitive to day-length. In northern India, flowering takes place from March to May. In Madras, the tree blooms in June-July and again in February-March, the second flowering producing only a small crop. In Florida flowering occurs during the summer months, the main crop maturing during the winter and early spring. A few fruits developed from late blooms are found in summer and fall.
Ficus sycomorusIn southern Africa, flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year, with a peak from July to December. Small wasps (Ceratosolen arabicus), which develop in some of the flowers and live symbiotically inside the syconium, pollinate the unisexual flowers. Bats achieve seed dispersal.
Ficus thonningiiFlowers unisexual, pollinated by small wasps, which develop in some of the flowers and live symbiotically inside the syconium. Seed dispersal is achieved by bats. In southern Africa, flowering and fruiting are observed for most of the year with the peak period in October.
Milicia excelsaMale and female flowers are found on separate trees, and M. excelsa flowers at slightly different times of the year depending on the area. On the north Kenya coast, flowering can be observed in January or February; at the south coast, from January to March; in western Kenya from October to December as well as in January and February. Flowers appear a few weeks after the partial or complete shedding of leaves or with the new leaves. After pollination, the female flower ripens to a fruit within a month. Birds, bats and squirrels readily eat the fruit and probably disperse the seeds. Normally, seeds ripen before the syncarp.
Piliostigma thonningiiA dioecious tree with male and female flowers on different trees. The off-white to pink fragrant flowers appear from November to March in many flowered hanging sprays. The female flowers are superseded from May to September by the large dark red-brown flattened oblong pods. The pods sometimes break up into one-seeded pieces after falling from the tree. The tree becomes nearly leafless in the dry season.
Pinus patulaP. patula is a monoecious plant. The female flowers are usually borne in the upper crown, and the male ones in the lower crown.
Populus ciliataFlowers appear when the trees are still leafless. The wind-pollinated tree has separate male and female flowers borne on separate trees. The ratio of male to female trees varies with site, and on the whole, male trees number more than females in natural populations. The fruits ripen in about 3 months after pollination. Seed dispersal takes place from about the middle of June to the middle of July depending upon the climate of the locality. Early monsoon showers during the seed dispersal period cause the capsules to close. They re-open again to disperse seed in dry spell in July-August.
Pycnanthus angolensisThe evergreen tree is monoecious, with the asexual flowers on different parts of the same branch. In its natural habitat the flowers are produced in October and November, at the same time as the previous years fruits are ripening. The fruits remain on the tree until about February. Dehiscence takes place on the tree, but many of the fruit clusters fall unopened.
Quercus humboldtiiTime of flowering depends on the climatic conditions. In some regions, it is in December-January whereas in others, April-May. Fruiting normally starts when the tree is 4-5 m tall, sometimes only 2 m. Fruiting is annual, maturing in 18 months, the time varying from region to region. The fruits are ripe when the colour changes from dark green to chestnut or dark brown.
Sapium ellipticumIn southern Africa, flowering occurs from November to April and fruiting from March to August. S. ellipticum is monoecious, flowers are unisexual.
Sterculia foetidaIn India, new leaves appear in March-April, just after flowering. The flowers, which have a foetid smell, appear in March when the tree is leafless. Fruits ripen the following February, nearly 11 months after the 1st appearance of the flowers. S. foetida is dioecious.
Swietenia humilisS. humilis hybridizes with S.macrophylla and S. mahagoni. Hybridization has been confirmed by cytological studies. The flowers are unisexual. All the hybrids show intermediate characters. Flowering occurs in April and May and the fruits take almost a year to mature.
Swietenia mahagoniFlowering and fruiting are regular and annual, varying according to climate but taking place shortly before the rainy season. Development from flower to mature fruit takes about 8-10 months. Flowers are unisexual and the tree is monoecious. Pollination is by insects. Hybridization is frequent, especially with S. macrophylla, wherever the species grow together. Usually 1 flower of the inflorescence develops into a fruit; the other flowers are aborted even if fertilization takes place. The tree fruits well and produces fertile seeds, sometimes as early as at 20 years of age, although usually it does not seed until it is 30-40 years old. Seed production varies according to site and year.
Trema orientalisT. orientalis flowers from February to April in Assam India, flowers unisexual. Fruit ripening varies with the locality, but in most places in India, occurs from December-May. Birds are very fond of the fruit and disperse the fleshy drupes.