Red Calliandra, Powderpuff, Kaliandra
Calliandra calothyrsus

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

Often cultivated as companion crop and to improve soil conditions, Red Calliandra or Calliandr calothyrsus is a fast-growing, thornless shrub that grows around 5-6 m high. It is multi-stemmed and its leaves contain high levels of tannins. It is also planted as green manure. The wood is used as firewood, fuel, and for charcoal-making. Other names include Powderpuff and Kaliandra.

Calliandra calothyrsus is an evergreen Shrub growing to 6 m (19ft) by 6 m (19ft) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Insects, bats. The plant is not self-fertile. It can fix Nitrogen. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 6

Where it is found

Secondary vegetation, often in thickets. It is an aggressive colonizer on disturbed sites such as recent landslides and roadsides. Dry to wet thickets, often on steep open slopes, at elevations of 300 - 1,800 metres.

Central America - central Panama, north to southern Mexico.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed.

Countries/locations it is found in

Coming Soon

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 5

Other uses rating: Very High (5/5). The plant can be used to rehabilitate erosion-prone areas such as slopes and stream banks, and to recover land exhausted by agriculture, where it easily dominates undesired weeds such as Eupatorium spp., Saccharum spp., and Imperata cylindrica. It is used as a nurse tree for partially shade-tolerant timber trees such as Agathis species. The ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, high leaf biomass production and high yields of protein leaf material on less fertile soils make this species very suitable as a green manure and it is used in alley-cropping systems. Due to litter and the combination of a deep and well-developed lateral rooting system, the soil and productivity of the land is improved. However, the relatively high level of tannins present in its leaves slows the rate of microbial breakdown of the organic matter. It is compatible with crops, with both deep roots and extensive fibrous roots. It has shown promise as an understorey plant in coconut plantations with about 60% light transmission. The plant is suitable for hedgerow boundaries. The flowers provide a rich source of nectar for bees. Other Uses The pulp and papermaking properties are satisfactory and are comparable to dipterocarps and appropriate for kraft paper manufacture. The pulp is easily bleached, but wood dimensions are generally small, making handling and chipping difficult. A good firewood species because it is fast growing, multi-stemmed, easy to regenerate and thornless. The wood is suitable as a smoking fuel for the production of smoked sheet rubber. There has been a demand for smoking fuel since old rubber trees, the traditional source, are increasingly used by furniture manufacturers. The wood is also used to make charcoal. Calliandra leaves and young shoots provide a high valuable protein source for animals.

Biomass: Provides a large quantity of plant material that can be converted into fuel etc.

Charcoal: Used for fuel, drawing, deodorant, filter, fertilizer etc.

Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Green manure: Fast-growing plants that can be used to increase the fertility of the soil.

Hedge: Plants that can be grown as hedges.

Paper: Related to the entry for Fibre, these plants have been specifically mentioned for paper making.

Shelterbelt: Wind resistant plants than can be grown to provide shelter in the garden etc.

Soil conditioner: Plants grown to improve the structure of the soil. See also Green manures.

Soil stabilization: Plants that can be grown in places such as sand dunes in order to prevent erosion by wind, water or other agents.

Agroforestry Services: Alley crop: Integrates annual crops with rows of perennials.

Agroforestry Services: Contour hedgerow: Alley cropping systems on the contour of slopes.

Agroforestry Services: Crop shade: Plants providing crop shade especially trees.

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.

Agroforestry Services: Windbreak: Linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock and benefit soil and water conservation.

Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.

Fodder: Insect: Plants grown for useful fodder insects.

Industrial Crop: Biomass: Three broad categories: bamboos, resprouting woody plants, and giant grasses. uses include: protein, materials (paper, building materials, fibers, biochar etc.), chemicals (biobased chemicals), energy - biofuels

Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.

Agroforestry Services: Alley crop: Integrates annual crops with rows of perennials.

Agroforestry Services: Contour hedgerow: Alley cropping systems on the contour of slopes.

Agroforestry Services: Crop shade: Plants providing crop shade especially trees.

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.

Agroforestry Services: Windbreak: Linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock and benefit soil and water conservation.

Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.

Fodder: Insect: Plants grown for useful fodder insects.

Industrial Crop: Biomass: Three broad categories: bamboos, resprouting woody plants, and giant grasses. uses include: protein, materials (paper, building materials, fibers, biochar etc.), chemicals (biobased chemicals), energy - biofuels

Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

Coppice: A traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

Hedge: Hedge

Nitrogen Fixer: Plants that fix nitrogen in the soil

How it is grown

A plant of moderate elevations in the humid and subhumid tropics. It can succeed at elevations up to 1,800 metres, but does best at 250 - 800 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 30°c, but can tolerate 18 - 34°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 2,000 - 4,000mm, but tolerates 700 - 5,000mm. It can tolerate a 3 - 6 month dry period. Prefers a position in full sun. Grows well on a wide range of soil types but prefers light textured, slightly acidic soils. It can tolerate infertile and compacted or poorly aerated soils but does not tolerate waterlogged and alkaline soils. Plants will die of oxygen starvation within two weeks if the soil is waterlogged. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6, tolerating 4.5 - 7.5. The tree is drought hardy, it fixes nitrogen and regenerates rapidly. It is so hardy and reproduces so easily that it may become a weed of sorts and may be difficult to keep in check. Seedlings grow very quickly, they can be 2.5 - 3.5 metres tall within 6 months and 3 - 5 metres within the first year. Flowering may start in the first year, but good fruit set does not start until the second. Fruits ripen 3 months after anthesis. The plants will often flower all year round. When grown for fuel, wood yields have been reported in the order of 15 - 40 tonnes per hectare just one year after planting, with annual coppice harvests continuing for 10 - 20 years. Annual wood production potential is 5 - 65 m3/ha. The rootstock is very vigorous and will resprout readily when coppiced. Yields are extremely good - just 6 months after being cut at 50cm from the ground new growth 3 metre high has been formed. Returns from charcoal production are higher than fuel wood because the wood is a quick burner. The plant can produce 14 tonnes per hectare of charcoal annually. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.

Propagating it: Seed - the seed has a hard coat and requires pre-treatment by scarification. This can be carried out by carefully abrading some of the seed coat (being careful not to damage the embryo) to allow the ingress of water. A simpler method is to immerse the seed in a small amount of almost boiling water (which cools down quickly enough so that it does not kill the seed) and then soak it for 12 - 24 hours in warm water before sowing. Seed germination occurs after 4 days and continues for 21 days with most seed germinating between 10 - 25 days from sowing. Seedlings grow away very quickly and can be 2.5 metres or more tall within 6 months. Seed viability can be maintained for several years in hermetic storage at 3°c with 6-10% moisture content. The plant can also be propagated from stem cuttings.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Shrub

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Fast

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

May be weedy

Its other names

Local names

Other names include Powderpuff and Kaliandra.

Synonyms

Anneslia calothyrsa (Meisn.) Kleinhoonte Anneslia calothyrus (Meisn.) Donn. Sm. Anneslia confusa Bri