Howdy Oscar and Mike,
Thank you both for share them pics
another awesome plant to have in the orchard
I have seen an Inga edulis fruit on the web that the fruit hanged from the tree and was so long that it touched the ground
In Brazil they are usually called Ingá-de-metro(Inga of a meter) and Ingá-cipó(Inga-vine) for obvious reasons.
I found few uses for Ice cream bean;
Uses;
Shade and litter. Inga edulis has been used as a shade tree for perennial crops--mainly coffee and cacao--since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Many farmers value it as much for soil
protection as for shade. The leaf litter protects the soil surface and roots of other plants, helps retain nutrients in the topsoil, and (most importantly for farmers in the humid tropics) controls weeds.
Improved fallow. In Amazonian Peru, Szott and Meléndez (1991) grew crops on land cleared and burnt after seven different fallow treatments. Land where Inga edulis had been planted gave the highest crop yields--34% higher than crops following natural forest fallow.
Alley cropping. In species trials in Costa Rica, Peru and Brazil, I.edulis was outstanding in terms of growth. Coppice regrowth was also good after pruning. In four out of five trials, crop yields were higher under alley cropping with I. edulis than in control plots (Smythe, 1993; Fernandes et al., 1991; Salazar et al., 1991; Salazar and Palm, 1991; M. Hands, personal communication). In two of these trials, crops performed better with I.edulis than with other species (Salazar and Palm, 1991; M. Hands, personal communication).
The litter is high in nitrogen, lignins and polyphenols. It is slow to decompose, but provides a long-term build up of organic nitrogen (Palm and Sanchez, 1990) and effective weed control. Weed biomass decreased considerably in all agroforestry trials with I. edulis, much more than with other leguminous species (Salazar and Palm, 1991). On cultivated slopes, I. edulis mulch reduced soil erosion to levels almost equal to those under secondary forest (Alegre and Fernandes, 1991). Existing trials are still too new to ascertain whether I. edulis can maintain or improve soil fertility on acid sites in the long term, but results so far are promising.
Other uses. The large fruit is popular throughout the region where I. edulis is distributed. Fruits are sold in local markets in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Costa Rica. The branches are a popular source of fuelwood, with a high calorific content and little smoke, but the trees are not cultivated specifically for fuelwood.
The link;
http://www.winrock.org/fnrm/factnet/factpub/FACTSH/inga.htm