''Gliricidia sepium'', often simply referred to as its genus name ''

Gliricidia ''Gliricidia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae and tribe Robinieae. Its native range is Mexico to Peru, but ''Gliricidia sepium'' has been widely introduced to other tropical zones. The species ''G. sepium'' is a sm ...

'', is a medium size leguminous

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

belonging to the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. Common names include quickstick, ''mata ratón''; ''cacao de nance'', ''cachanance''; ''balo'' in Panama; ''piñon Cubano'' in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

; ''madreado'' in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

; ''kakawate'' in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

; , ''madre cacao'', or ''madre de cacao'' in the Philippines and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

; ''madero negro'' in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

; ''undirmari'' in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

and ''wetahiriya'' in Sinhala). It is an important multi-purpose legume tree, with a native range from Mexico to Colombia, but now widely introduced to other tropical zones.Plants of the World Online (POWO) ''Gliricidia sepium'' (Jacq.) Steud. (retrieved 28 June 2020)
/ref>

Description

''Gliricidia sepium'' is a medium-sized tree that grows high. The bark is smooth, and its color can range from a whitish gray to deep red-brown. The flowers are located on the end of branches that have no leaves. These flowers have a bright pink to lilac color that is tinged with white. A pale yellow spot is usually at the flower's base. The tree's fruit is a pod about long. It is green when unripe and becomes yellow-brown when it reaches maturity. The pod produces four to ten round brown seeds. ''G. sepium'' is native to

tropical dry forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. In addition to its native range it is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions, including the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, northern parts of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, central

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

,parts of Sri Lanka, parts of

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. The tree grows well in acidic soils with a pH of 4.5-6.2. The tree is found on volcanic soils in its native range in

and

. However, it can also grow on

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

soils.

Uses

''G. sepium'' was spread from its native range throughout the tropics to shade plantation crops such as

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

. Today it is used for many other purposes including

live fencing A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoin ...

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

green manure In agriculture, a green manure is a crop specifically produced to be incorporated into the soil while still green. Typically, the green manure's biomass is incorporated with a plow or disk, as is often done with (brown) manure. The primary goal ...

intercropping Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice that involves growing two or more crops in proximity. In other words, intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field. The most common goal of intercropping is ...

, and rat poison. Its use expanded following the widespread defoliation of Leucaena by

psyllid Psyllidae, the jumping plant lice or psyllids, are a family of small plant-feeding insects that tend to be very host-specific, i.e. each plant-louse species only feeds on one plant species (monophagous) or feeds on a few closely related plants ( ...

in the 1980s. In the charsutri method of paddy cultivation, leaves of glyricidia are incorporated in soil during ploughing.

Fodder

''G. sepium'' is used as cut and carry forage for cattle, sheep, and goats. Its high protein content allows it to complement low-quality tropical forages. ''G. sepium'' can tolerate repeated cutting, every 2 to 4 months depending on the climate. Cutting ''G. sepium'' causes it to retain its leaves during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

when many forage crops have lost their leaves. In some cases it is the only source of feed during the dry season.

Intercropping

''G. sepium'' trees are used for

in part because they fix nitrogen in the soil and tolerate low soil fertility, so when they are interplanted with crops they can boost crop yields significantly, without the need of chemical fertilizers. ''G. Sepium'' tolerates being cut back to crop height, and can even be

coppiced Coppicing is 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. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...

, year after year. When the trees are cut back, they enter a temporary dormant state during which their root systems do not compete for nutrients needed by the crops, so the crops can establish themselves. These properties also enable G. Sepium to be used as green manure.

Soil stabilization

''G. sepium'' is a fast-growing

ruderal species A ruderal species is a plant species that is first to colonize disturbed lands. The disturbance may be natural for example, wildfires or avalanchesor the consequences of human activities, such as construction ( of roads, of buildings, mining, et ...

that takes advantage of

slash and burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegeta ...

practices in its native range. Because it is easily propagated and grows quickly, it is also planted to prevent topsoil erosion in the initial stages of

reforesting Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debate ...

denuded areas, and as an intermediate step to be taken before introducing species that take longer to grow.

Shade trees

The common name ''madre de cacao'' (literally "mother of cacao" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

) used in

and the

is in reference to its traditional use as

shade tree A shade tree is a large tree whose primary role is to provide shade in the surrounding environment due to its spreading canopy (forest), canopy and crown (botany), crown, where it may give shelter from sunlight in the heat of the summer for peopl ...

s for

cocoa tree ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest pro ...

plantations.

Other

''G. sepium'' is widely used in the form of poles for live fencing in Cuba and India. This is one of the best plants used for traditional live fencing to protect agriculture and fruit bearing plantations from animals such as goats, cow, and buffalo. As a Caribbean native, ''G. sepium'' has traditionally been used for live fencing in Cuba. As in India, during the recent past one could see many

living fence A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoin ...

s around mango and cashew orchards and agricultural properties in Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka, erected with ''G. sepium'' and tied with

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

rafters. ''G. sepium'' is also used for its insect repellent properties. Farmers in Latin America often wash their livestock with a paste made of crushed ''G. sepium'' leaves to ward off torsalos (botflies). In the Philippines, the extract obtained from its leaves is made into anti-mange dog shampoo.

Limitations

''G. sepium'' seems to be toxic to non-

ruminants Ruminants ( suborder Ruminantia) are hoofed herbivorous grazing or browsing mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. The ...

. The generic name ''Gliricidia'' means "mouse killer" in reference to the traditional use of its toxic seeds and bark as

rodenticide Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, squirrels, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles. Despi ...

s. Some

palatability Palatability (or palatableness) is the hedonic reward (i.e., pleasure) provided by foods or fluids that are agreeable to the "palate", which often varies relative to the homeostatic satisfaction of nutritional, water, or energy needs. The palatabil ...

challenges have been reported; animals seem to refuse the leaves on the basis of smell, but this depends on management and geography. Another limitation is frost intolerance and the lack of adaptation to a cool season: it is a tropical plant. In terms of cultivation, it requires the presence of

pollinators A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

, and it needs a dry season to

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...

. Further, it has invasive potential: its swift propagation has caused it to be considered a weed in Jamaica. Until now ''G. sepium'' has remained free of serious diseases; only a number of insect problems are reported in exotic environments, but there are issues with

defoliation A defoliant is any herbicidal chemical sprayed or dusted on plants to cause their leaves to fall off. Defoliants are widely used for the selective removal of weeds in managing croplands and lawns. Worldwide use of defoliants, along with the ...

under humid conditions.

Names in other Languages

In Indonesian ''Gliricidia sepium'' is known as ''gamal,'' which is an acronym for ''Ganjang Malaysia'' (Down with Malaysia.)

References

External links

2.2 "Gliricidia sepium - a Multipurpose Forage Tree Legume"
in Forage Tree Legumes in Tropical Agriculture, Edited by Ross C. Gutteridge and H. Max Shelton. Tropical Grassland Society of Australia Inc.

Purdue University. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2717303 Robinieae Trees of the Philippines Trees of Central America Trees of South America Trees of Mexico Plants described in 1760 Taxa named by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin Ruderal species Trees of Guatemala