Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp.
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Authority
Britton, Nathaniel L. Flora Borinqueña.
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Family
Fabaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - This small tree, native of Central America and northern South America, is frequently planted for ornament in the West Indies, its clustered, large, pink, or rose-colored flowers very beautiful, and has also been used for shading coffee and chocolate plantations; it is, occasionally, spontaneous from seed. Mr. McClelland contributes the following note: "As a tree for shading coffee, it has numerous good points and some bad ones. It strikes root readily from cuttings, growth is rapid, it stands pruning well, and its small size means easy handling. The leaves are shed prior to the coffee blossoming season, letting in light and air to the blossoms, and providing a ground mulch in the dry season. It is a host to the thread-blight of coffee, and to more than one insect injurious to coffee." We have not observed any extensive naturalization of this tree in Porto Rico, but it has been recorded as subspontaneous at Añasco; wider establishment has taken place in parts of Jamaica, Cuba and Trinidad. Gliricidia (Greek, mouse-killer, from the poisonous seeds) is a genus first indicated by Humboldt, Bonpland and Kunth, in 1883, based upon the species here illustrated, studied by Humboldt in the vicinity of Campeche. They are tropical American trees or shrubs, with once-compound leaves, 4 species now being known; the nearest relatives in Porto Rico are the 2 species of Sabinea, illustrated in this work, from which they differ in having leaves with an unequal number of leaflets (several pairs and a terminal one). The flowers form lateral or axillary, loose clusters; the calyx is obliquely bell-shaped, with short, broad teeth; the standard petal is broad and reflexed, the wing-petals oblong, separate, the keel incurved and blunt; there are 10 stamens, 9 united by their filaments, 1 separate, the anthers all alike; the stalked ovary contains numerous ovules, the style is inflexed, topped by a small stigma. The long, flat pod is rather firm in texture, and splits longitudinally. Gliricidia sepium (referring to its use for hedges), may reach a height of about 10 meters, but is usually lower; its young twigs are silky-hairy. The stalked leaves are from 15 to 40 centimeters long, with from 7 to 17, short-stalked, thin, broad leaflets from 3 to 7 centimeters long. The usually numerous flowers are borne in clusters from 10 to 15 centimeters long; the calyx is about 5 millimeters long, the standard from 1.5 to 2 centimeters long. The smooth pod is from 10 to 20 centimeters long, and from 1 to 2 centimeters wide. The very hard, heavy, strong and durable wood of this tree is useful for posts, for fuel, and in construction.
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Discussion
Madre de cacao Bala Pea Family Robinia sepium Jacquin, Enumeratic Systematica Plantarum 28. 1760. Gliricidia sepium Steudel, Nomenclator Botanicus 688. 1841.