Plants > Ornamental & Shade Trees > Gliricidia

Gliricidia sepium

Gliricidia, Madera negra, mata raton

Gliricidia sepiumis a medium-sized tree and can grow from 10 to 12 meters high. The bark is smooth and its color can range from a whitish gray to deep red-brown. is found on volcanic soils in its native range in Central America and Mexico. However, it can also grow on sandy, clay and lime stone soils.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliricidia_sepium

Plant Characteristics

Dimensions at Maturity

Height: 10 to 12 M

Leaves
It has composite leaves that can be 30 cm long. Each leaf is composed of leaflets that are about 2 to 7 cm long and 1 to 3 cm wide.

Fruit
The fruit is a pod which is about 10 to 15 cm in length. It is green when unripe and becomes yellow-brown when it reaches maturity. The pod produces 4 to 10 round brown seeds . The tree grows well in acidic soils with a

Flowers

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.

Additional Information

Benefits | Desirability

The tree is used in many tropical and sub-tropical countries for various purposes such as live fencing,fodder, coffee shade, firewood, green manure and rat poison. Live fences can be grown from 1.5 m to 2.0 m stakes of Gliricidia sepium in just a month.

G. sepium is also used for its medicinal and insect repellent properties. Farmers in Latin America often wash their livestock with a paste made of crushed G. sepium leaves to ward off torsalos. In thePhilippines, the extract obtained from its leaves is used to remove external parasites.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliricidia_sepium

http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/gbase/data/pf000156.htm

Tags
native,