Ice-cream bean
Inga edulis
Fixes nitrogen and shades coffee or cacao; the long pods hold sweet, cottony pulp.
Hardiness: zones 10 to 12
Light: full sun
Size: about 40 ft tall, 30 ft wide
Harvest: March to June
From: Amazon and Andean foothills
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.
Good for: food, fixing nitrogen in the soil, mulch and biomass.
Native to: Tropical South America. Hardy in zones 10 to 12.
The story
Ice-cream bean trees are planted across the Amazon and Andean foothills as shade for coffee and cacao, and the sweet cottony pulp around the seeds has been a children's treat since before the Inca; it fixes nitrogen and grows a yard a month.
Planting
Full sun, any moist soil, heat; no frost. Plant seed fresh (it does not store) in spring; it reaches 20 feet in two years.
Growing
Water young trees, then nothing; it feeds the soil and itself. Coppice hard to keep it in reach and for mulch wood.
Harvest and use
Long pods ripen through the warm months; split and eat the white pulp around each seed. Eat within a day.
What to watch for
Frost and wind; brittle limbs.
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More tropical and subtropical food plants
General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home