Griffonia

Griffonia is a genus of central African flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Cercidoideae. Griffonia is known to have a high concentration of 5-HTP in its seeds.^{[citation needed]}

Griffonia
Griffonia simplicifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Cercidoideae
Genus:	Griffonia Baill. (1865)[1]
Type species
Griffonia physocarpa Baill.
Species
4; see text
Synonyms[2]
Bandeiraea Welw. ex Benth. & Hook. (1865)

The genus includes four species of scandent shrubs and lianas native to west and west-central tropical Africa, ranging from Liberia to DR Congo and Angola. They grow in humid tropical forests, swamp forests, and thickets in coastal wooded grassland.^[3]

G. physocarpa, G. speciosa, and G. tessmannii are native to west-central Africa, with G. physocarpa having the widest distribution. G. simplicifolia ranges from Gabon to Liberia.^[3]

Taxonomy

The genus Griffonia was named by Henri Baillon in honour of his friend and fellow physician Marie-Théophile Griffon du Bellay, explorer of Gabon, pioneer in the study of sleeping sickness and also of the African entheogen Iboga, source of the alkaloid ibogaine. ^[4]

Species

Griffonia comprises the following species:^{[1][5][6][7][3]}

• Griffonia physocarpa Baill.
• Griffonia simplicifolia (M.Vahl ex DC.) Baill.
• Griffonia speciosa (Welw. ex Benth.) Taub.
• Griffonia tessmannii (De Wild.) Compère

References

1. The genus Griffonia, as well as the type, G. physocarpa, were first described and published in Adansonia 6: 188. 1865. "Name - !Griffonia Baill". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
2. Wunderlin RP (2010). "Reorganization of the Cercideae (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae)" (PDF). Phytoneuron. 48: 1–5.
3. Griffonia Baill. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
4. http://ecole.nav.traditions.free.fr/officiers_griffon_theophile.htm Retrieved at 10.02 on 31/10/20.
5. "Name - !Griffonia Baill. subordinate taxa". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
6. "ILDIS LegumeWeb entry for Griffonia". International Legume Database & Information Service. Cardiff School of Computer Science & Informatics. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
7. USDA; ARS; National Genetic Resources Program. "GRIN species records of Griffonia". Germplasm Resources Information Network—(GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved 5 May 2014.