ETHNOBOTANY, PHENOLOGY AND POD YIELD IN TREES OF Cassia grandis L. f. AT CENTRAL CHIAPAS

Abstract

Given the seasonality of grass production, the low availability and high costs of commercial protein concentrates utilized in animal production in the central region of Chiapas, México, this study was carried out in order to learn about the ethno-botany of the cañadonga tree (Cassia grandis L.f.). Description of the soil and climatic characteristics where it grows, the morphometry, the phe- nologic cycle, pod yield per tree, and the design of a model to establish pod yield per tree are products of this study. Between 2007 and 2008, a survey was conducted among livestock producers from the region to gather the ethnobotany associated to this legume tree. Due to its scarcity, the study included nine trees found in the Tuxtla Gutiérrez (TX), San Fernando (SF) and Tecpatán (TP) regions. In these trees, weekly changes were observed regarding the morphologic components, along with their dimensions, pod number, individual pod weight and total pod weight per tree, as well as number of seeds per pod and weight of 100 seeds. Only 1 % of the livestock producers knew an use for the pods. Trees grow at different soil pH and altitudinal level than those reported in Central America. Flowering period ocurrs from February to May, and pod maturation lasts 18 weeks. The amount of pods ranges from 239 to 1226 per tree, and pod yield from 33 to 254 kg per tree. The tree with the largest and heavier pots (P ≤ 0.05) was TP (54.3 cm and 497.3 g), while the widest pods (P ≤ 0.05) were found in San José Terán (TE, 3.8 cm). A linear relationship was found between tree height and pod yield (r = 0.91**).