| DESCRIPTION: A herbaceous to woody, leguminous sub-shrub capable of reaching a height of 2-3 m in just 7 months. Flowers purple with white markings or white and 2.5 cm wide. Pods usually contain 8 to 16 seeds. USE: It is grown as a cover crop and for the manifacture of insecticide (rotenone), fish poison and mollucide. It is also grown as an ornamental and as green manure. The insecticide is used to control insects both on plants, animals and in buildings, with the chemical effect lasting up to 3 months. It is poisonous to animals and humans. GROWING PERIOD: Short-lived perennial that fruits and flower all year round. A leaf crop can harvested for rotanone in only 180 days. COMMON NAMES: Fishbean, Fish-poison bean. FURTHER INF: Synonym: T. periculosa. It is native of West and Central Africa. It can be found at elevations between sea level and 2100 m. It is widely cultivated in East Africa. Found in widely varying habitats, including savannah-like vegetation, grassland, forest margins and shrubland, wasteland and fallow fields. In acid soils, it grows much better than Leucaena leucocephala, forming root nodules and fixing atmospheric nitrogen where the latter does not. On poor soils, however, it grows more slowly and is more prone to diseases. It is susceptible to frost and flowering occurs on decreasing day-lengths. |
