Legumes of the cerrado

Abstract

The Cerrado is a type of savanna vegetation which covers 20% of Brazil. It is an environment with nutrient poor soils. Legumes are one source of nitrogen for agriculture in the Cerrado. There are 59 genera with 548 species of Leguminosae reported to occur in Cerrado vegetation. It is recommended that the search for nitrogen fixing legumes be concentrated in tribes Caesalpinieae and Detarieae and genus Chamaecrista of subfamily Caesalpinioideae, in tribe Mimoseae and genus Enterolobium of subfamily Mimosoideae, and in tribes Dipteryxeae, Dalbergieae, Phaseoleae and Aeschynomene and genera Swartzia, Acosmium and Bowdichia of subfamily Papilinoideae.