Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp.

Gliricidia sepium Bud

(Hidayat & Abdurrahman, 2017)

Gliricidia sepium Tree

(Hidayat & Abdurrahman, 2017)

Flower of Gliricidia sepium

(Hidayat & Abdurrahman, 2017)

Regnum               : Plantae – Plants

Subregnum          : Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Divisio                 : Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants

Subclassis            : Rosidae

Classis                 : Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons

Ordo                    : Fabales

Familia                : Fabaceae – Pea family

Genus                  : Gliricidia

Species                : Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp.

Description

Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp. is a perennial, medium-sized (2-15 m high) legume tree. Branching frequently from the base with basal diameters reaching 50-70 cm.  Bark is smooth, varying in colour from whitish grey to deep red-brown.  It is mostly deciduous during the dry season but is reported to remain evergreen in humid areas. Gliricidia sepium is native to the seasonally dry Pacific coast of Central America and is now widespread throughout the tropics within 6°S and 19°N of the equator. It grows well from sea level to an altitude of 1600 m, in areas where the mean temperature ranges from 20°C to 29°C, and annual rainfall is between 900 mm and 1500 mm, with a five-month dry period. It does not withstand frost and night temperatures below 15°C. It is tolerant to waterlogging and to a wide range of poorly fertile soils (Ecocrop, 2009). 

Leaves are imparipinnate; leaflets (5-20) are ovate, 2-7 cm long x 1-3 cm broad. 

Flowers bright pink to lilac, tinged with white, usually with a diffuse pale yellow spot at the base of the standard petal, calyx glabrous, green, often tinged red.  Standard petal round and nearly erect, approximately 20 mm long;  keel petals 15-20 mm long, 4-7 mm wide, arranged in clustered racemes.

 The fruits are dehiscent pods, 10-18 cm long and 2 cm broad, that contain 8 to 10 seeds.Fruit green, sometimes tinged reddish-purple when unripe, light yellow-brown when mature, narrow, 10-18 cm long, 2 cm wide, valves twisting in dehiscence;  seeds 4-10, yellow-brown to brown, nearly round

Gliricidia sepium is one of the major tropical forage trees due to its protein-rich forage and high nutritive value. Gliricidia forage can be cut by hand and left on the ground for grazing or carried to paddocks or stalls. It is also possible to make silage from chopped forage, which may be mixed with grasses or maize. Additives, such as molasses, sugar cane or formic acid (0.85%), should be added to provide fermentable carbohydrates (Wiersum et al., 1992).

Gliricidia sepium is a legume able to fix N. It produces a lot of litter and the half-life of gliricidia leaves is about 20 days. The plant is thus considered as a good soil improver. Because of its deep roots and quick growth, it is used as a windbreak. It thrives on steep slopes and may be used to reclaim denuded land. Gliricidia sepium is also often used as shade for perennials (coffee, tea, cocoa) or as nurse-tree since it produces light shade and reduces soil temperatures (Orwa et al., 2009).

Location : Zone 1, UPI Botanical Garden

References
www.feedipedia.org
http://www.tropicalforages.info

Please cite this article as:

Azis, A. M. (2019). UPI Seed Plants: Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp. Online at
https://upiseedplants-one-aldi.blogspot.com/. Accessed (Date)