Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth

Gamal (Gliricidia sepium) is a shrub or small tree 2-15 meters tall of the Fabaceae family, native to Central America, now distributed across nearly the entire Indonesian archipelago. This multipurpose tree is used as plantation shade, green manure, livestock feed, and charcoal material, while its flowers can be eaten as a vegetable. The Guatemalan community traditionally uses gamal's bark and leaves to treat skin diseases.

This plant can grow well in humid to dry climate regions and is commonly found along roadsides, riverbanks, floodplains, fields, gardens, yards as a hedge plant and open places, at elevations of 1-2,000 m above sea level. This species can grow well in various soil types in areas with annual daytime temperatures in the range of 15-30°C, but can tolerate 12-44°C, average annual rainfall in the range of 1,200-2,300 mm, but tolerating 600-3,500 mm, soil acidity degree (pH) in the range of 5.5-6.2, but tolerant at 4.5-8.

• Root a taproot, many fibrous roots, whitish-brown.
• Stem upright, round, crusty, woody, grayish-brown in color, easily cracked, somewhat rough surface, small cracks, sparse lenticels.
• Leaves compound, imparipinnate (odd-pinnate), alternate leaf position, consisting of about 13-21 leaflets, leaf blade elliptical to oblong shaped, base blunt to rounded, tip tapering, edges flat, dark green on the upper surface, and light green on the underside, hairless. Has a petiole 8-12 cm, cylindrical, hairless, thickened at the base, light green.
• Flowers pink in color and tend to fade to pale purple with age with pale yellow color in the center. Inflorescence compound, cluster-shaped, bisexual, emerging from leaf axils. Stamens yellow, pistil white.
• Fruit a pod type, flat, 10-11.5 cm long, containing 3-19 seeds, green in color.
• Seeds ellipsoid shaped, small, glossy, brown to black in color.

• Propagated vegetatively (stem/branch cuttings) as well as generatively (seed).
• Propagation using cuttings is done by choosing a stem or branch that is neither too old nor too young, from a parent tree not affected by disease, with a diameter of 1.5-2 cm, length 15-30 cm, then cut at an angle and immediately planted in planting media.

Formosin, formononetin, gliricidin-6a-gliricidol-9a, medicarpin (pterocarpan), 7,4'-dihydroxy-3'-methoxyisoflavin, 2'O-methylsepiol, tannin, trihydroxyflavone, stigmastanol glucoside, 3'4-dihydroxy-trans-cinnamic acid octacosyl ester 2, methyl 3(E)-pentenyl ether, 3-methyl-2-butanol, 3-methoxy hexane, 1-(1-ethoxyethoxy)-2-hexene, 2-decanol, coumarin, hexadecanoic acid, essential oil (pentadecanal, (Z)-phytol, methyl linolenate, nonanal, myrtenol, nerolidol).

Hair nourishing remedy, skin smoother, addresses eczema, scabies, itching, prickly heat, boils, treats wounds and burns, bruises, colds, cough, colds, fatigue, fever, sprains, broken bones, headache, rheumatism, skin tumors, urticaria (skin disease like hives), skin application to repel insects, fights bacterial and protozoal infections.

Sliridia, Liriksidia, Sirida (Java), Cebreng (Sunda).