It is an important multi-purpose legume tree,[3] with a native range from Mexico to Colombia, but now widely introduced to other tropical zones.
[2] The Spanish and Nahuatl names are retained in the Philippines as madre de cacao, madriado, madrecacao, and cacauate (or kakawate).
[2] In South Asia, it is known as madri in Telugu; saranga in Bengali; gobbarda mara or gobbaradgidda in Kannada; giripushpa in Marathi; siima konna in Malayalam; and seemai agathi or vivasaaya thegarai in Tamil, and wetahiriya in Sinhala).
G. sepium has been cultivated extensively by indigenous American cultures in North, Central, and South America since the pre-Columbian era, which makes it difficult to ascertain its original native distribution.
This is one of the best plants used for traditional live fencing to protect agriculture and fruit bearing plantations from animals such as goats, cow, and buffalo.
As in India, during the recent past one could see many living fences around mango and cashew orchards and agricultural properties in Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka, erected with G. sepium and tied with bamboo rafters.
Farmers in Latin America often wash their livestock with a paste made of crushed G. sepium leaves to ward off torsalos (botflies).
The generic name Gliricidia means "mouse killer" in reference to the traditional use of its toxic seeds and bark as rodenticides.
[17] In terms of cultivation, it requires the presence of pollinators to set seeds, but is often propagated with stem cuttings despite it giving shallow roots.
[18] Until now G. sepium has remained free of serious diseases; only a number of insect problems are reported in exotic environments,[16] but there are issues with defoliation under humid conditions.
[19] In late April, 2023 on the island of Montserrat, BWI, the Black bean bug (Brachyplatys subaeneus) was observed infesting this plant.
In Indonesia, Gliricidia sepium is known as gamal given by researcher R. Soetarjo Martoatmodjo in 1958 after Gamal Abdel Nasser –whose name also reminded him of the Arabic name for 'camel' (i.e. جَمَل jamal)– in the hopes that it would help Indonesia's wastelands heal and its other ecosystems endure just "like a camel crossing the Sahara desert";[20] it has also been backronymed by some farmers as the anti-Malaysia slogan Ganjang Malaysia or "Down with Malaysia".