Function
Biomass producer — species for syntropic systems
Biomass producers are the system's engine: fast growth, hard pruning, and all of it becomes the organic matter that covers the soil and feeds succession. Giant grasses, bananas, and cut-and-carry legumes are the classics.
95 species in the catalog · Refine this list in the catalog
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mangium
Acacia mangium
Secondary I Emergent Fertilizer & mulch 🌱 Nitrogen fixerExtremely fast-growing nitrogen-fixing legume, central in syntropic systems as a producer of both cover and fertilizer biomass. Pasini classifies i...
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monjoleiro
Acacia polyphylla
Secondary I High Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerPioneer legume native to the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. Medium-to-tall tree (10–20 m), fine compound leaves. Very rapid growth — structural speci...
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macauba palm
Acrocomia aculeata
Secondary II Emergent Mulch biomassNative palm of the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest, distributed from Bahia to Paraná. Spiny stipe 10–20 m. Orange-yellow fruits with yellow pulp and an...
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century plant
Agave americana
Placenta I Ground cover Mulch biomassPivotal species of the accumulation phase on exhausted soils. Rebello describes its use in Chapada dos Veadeiros: planted at 20 cm spacing on near-...
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sisal
Agave sisalana
Placenta II Low Mulch biomassXerophytic agave domesticated in Mesoamerica and produced at scale in Bahia. Rebello lists it among species adapted to very dry Caatinga environmen...
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siris tree
Albizia lebbeck
Secondary II High Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerA fast-growing, drought-tolerant leguminous tree of 18-30 m, native to tropical Asia and now pantropical. It fixes nitrogen readily and coppices ex...
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purple amaranth
Amaranthus cruentus
Placenta I High Fertilizer biomassHighly nutritious annual pseudocereal. Embrapa CT-16 lists it as a fodder species alongside gliricídia. Planted as a second-season crop after summe...
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cebil
Anadenanthera colubrina
Secondary I High Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerFast-growing pioneer legume, nitrogen fixer. Adapted to poor and degraded soils; widely used in restoration of degraded areas across Caatinga, Cerr...
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wild sweetsop
Annona cacans
Secondary II High Mulch biomassNative Atlantic Forest and Cerrado species, medium tree (8–15 m). Large fruits (up to 1.5 kg) with sweetish yellow flesh but a laxative effect (ori...
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pinto peanut
Arachis pintoi
Placenta I Ground cover Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerPerennial creeping legume with stolons, 20–40 cm tall. Permanent living mulch, persists under 70% shade. Fixes nitrogen, produces 5–13 t/ha/year of...
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paraná pine
Araucaria angustifolia
Climax Emergent Mulch biomassConifer native to southern Brazil, an iconic emergent of highland Atlantic Forest. Rebello cites it among emergent-stratum representatives in clima...
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babassu palm
Attalea speciosa
Climax Emergent Mulch biomassNative palm of the transition zones between the Amazon, Cerrado, and Caatinga — strongly present in Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins, and northern Goiás....
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balcooa bamboo
Bambusa balcooa
Secondary I Emergent Mulch biomassA large clumping bamboo native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina, with thick culms up to 25 m and thick walls. It is highly valued for const...
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punting pole bamboo
Bambusa tuldoides
Secondary I High Mulch biomassA clumping bamboo native to southern China, with straight, relatively slender culms 6–12 m tall, widely used as poles, in light construction and cr...
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common bamboo
Bambusa vulgaris
Secondary I High Mulch biomassA clumping (non-running) bamboo native to Southeast Asia and one of the most widely cultivated bamboos in the tropics. It forms dense clumps with c...
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pigeon pea
Cajanus cajan
Placenta I Low Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerShort-cycle shrubby legume that fixes nitrogen, widely used in Brazilian agroforestry as green manure, early shade and food. Vigorous on poor soils.
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calliandra
Calliandra calothyrsus
Placenta II Medium Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerA very fast-growing leguminous shrub or small tree, usually 4-6 m tall, native to Central America. A nitrogen fixer that coppices vigorously after ...
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Brazilian jack bean
Canavalia brasiliensis
Placenta I Low Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerAnnual nitrogen-fixing legume native to Brazil, cousin of feijão-de-porco. Listed in Embrapa CT-16 Tabela 1 as a cover crop alongside crotalarias a...
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jack bean
Canavalia ensiformis
Placenta I Low Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerAnnual nitrogen-fixing legume with strong soil-decompacting and weed-suppressing ability. Explicitly cited by Pasini among Accumulation-system spec...
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papaya
Carica papaya
Placenta II High Mulch biomassShort-cycle Placenta II species occupying the high stratum for 2–4 years. Fruits 9–12 months after planting.
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trumpet tree
Cecropia pachystachya
Placenta II Medium Mulch biomassFast-growing, short-lived (~20 years) pioneer tree that colonizes edges and gaps in all Brazilian biomes. Fruits eaten by birds and primates; symbi...
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vetiver
Chrysopogon zizanioides
Placenta II Low Mulch biomassPerennial grass with deep vertical roots (up to 4 m), originally from India. The Bosque de Niebla Guidebook recommends vetiver as a hedgerow specie...
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fairchild's clitoria
Clitoria fairchildiana
Secondary I High Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerA leguminous tree native to Brazil (Amazonian domain), 6-12 m tall, with a broad crown and violet flowers in pendulous inflorescences. It nodulates...
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butterfly pea
Clitoria ternatea
Placenta I Ground cover Fertilizer biomass 🌱 Nitrogen fixerA perennial herbaceous climbing legume able to fix up to 100 kg N per hectare per year in symbiosis with Rhizobium. Used as a high-value forage (pr...
❓ Frequently asked questions
What does "Biomass producer" mean in syntropic agriculture?
Fast-growing species whose biomass (leaves, branches, trunks) is periodically cut and returned to the soil. The energetic engine of a syntropic system: pruning produces organic matter that feeds soil life and releases light for the next generation.
Which catalog species are tagged Biomass producer?
The catalog holds 95 species, among them mangium, monjoleiro, macauba palm. Each profile shows stratum, succession stage, and the management data, with sources cited.