Gliricidia sepium is a shrub or small tree with a medium-sized, open crown; it can grow 2 - 15 metres tall.The bole is twisted, or grows at an angle, up to 30cm in diameter. In its native range, with a clearly defined dry season, the plant is deciduous, but may be evergreen and flower sporadically through the year in areas with rain all year round. In these areas seed set is often low.
A very valuable multipurpose tree and important component of various agroforestry systems, the tree is often cultivated in many tropical countries of Central and South America, S and SE Asia, the Pacific islands and Africa. It serves as a pioneer species to establish the site, as a shade and support tree; as a green manure and forage crop in plantations; it is used for the establishment of living fences etc. The plant is often grown as an ornamental, where it is particularly valued for its generosity in flower - its arching branches being weighed down by the densely packed racemes of nectar-rich flowers

Edible Uses
Flowers - cooked and eaten as a potherb.
They contain about 3% nitrogen.
They are also folded into a batter and fried.

Medicinal
The plant is reported to be expectorant, sedative and suppurative.
Crude extracts have been shown to have antifungal activity.
The plant is a folk remedy for alopecia, boils, bruises, burns, colds, cough, debility, eruptions, erysipelas, fever, fractures, gangrene, headache, itch, prickly heat, rheumatism, skin tumours, ulcers, urticaria and wounds.

Other Uses
The plant has found application as a rodenticide and general pesticide.
 The seeds are used as a rat poison.
The roots are said to have a sweetish taste and to be deadly to the field mice and rats which invariably eat them in preference to those of cacao or coffee trees.
An extract of the leaf is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a hair conditioner and skin conditioner.

The heartwood is dark brown, turning reddish-brown on exposure to air; the moderately thin band of sapwood is yellowish to light brown, turning reddish brown on exposure. The texture is coarse; the grain is irregular and close. The wood is hard, heavy, very tough, very durable in contact with the soil and termite resistant. It is difficult to split and takes a very good polish. The wood is utilized for railway sleepers, farm implements, tool handles, furniture, house construction and as mother posts in live-fence establishment.
The wood is often used for fuel and charcoal production. It burns slowly without sparking and with little smoke, so it is an important fuel wood in the subhumid tropics.
The calorific value of a 5-year-old tree is 4550 kcal/kg