Plants

camaratuba

Cratylia mollis Mart. ex Benth.

Family: Fabaceae · Genus: Cratylia

velvet bean tree (Cratylia mollis)

Placenta II Low Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixer 🪓 Coppices after cutting

Native shrubby legume of the Caatinga; one of the most important fodder species of the northeastern semiarid, with strong drought resistance and high nutritional value for ruminants.

Götsch succession

Götsch stage: Placenta II
Ecological role: Pioneer
Primary stratum: Low
Strata: Low, Medium
Biomass class: Fertilizer biomass

Environment

Light requirement: Full sun
Water requirement: Low
Drought tolerance: High

Morphology

Mature height: 1.5–3 m
Recommended spacing: 1 m
Growth rate: Moderate

Biomes & climate

Caatinga Native

Köppen classes

Hot semi-arid (BSh) Suitable

Where it fits in a guild

Camaratuba takes the Low stratum in the Placenta II phase of succession — in a guild it shares the line with species from the other strata, each harvesting light at its own height, in its own time. It also fixes nitrogen, feeding the soil for its line neighbors.

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🪴 Cultivation

Sow at rain onset at 1×1 m (~4 seeds/hole, 5–10 kg/ha); nursery seedlings improve establishment. Managed as a cut-and-carry protein bank (~4–5 t DM/ha/yr), cut at 0.5–1.0 m, resprouting vigorously and staying palatable through the dry season. N-fixation is real but rainfall-dependent — nodulation collapses under dry-season water deficit.