Griffonia

{{Short description|Genus of legumes}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Griffonia simplicifolia Faguet 1866.jpg |image_caption = ''Griffonia simplicifolia'' |taxon = Griffonia |authority = Baill. (1865)<ref name=trop1>The genus ''Griffonia'', as well as the type, ''G. physocarpa'', were first described and published in ''Adansonia'' 6: 188. 1865. {{ cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40017508 |title=Name - !''Griffonia'' Baill. |work=Tropicos |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |location=Saint Louis, Missouri |accessdate=November 14, 2012}}</ref> |type_species = ''Griffonia physocarpa'' |type_species_authority = Baill. |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = 4; see text |synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite journal | title = Reorganization of the Cercideae (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae) | year = 2010 | author = Wunderlin RP | journal = Phytoneuron | volume = 48 | pages = 1–5 | url = http://www.phytoneuron.net/PhytoN-Cercideae.pdf }}</ref> |synonyms = ''Bandeiraea'' Welw. ex Benth. & Hook. (1865) }}

'''''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|date=November 2012}}

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.<ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:22523-1 ''Griffonia'' Baill.] ''Plants of the World Online''. Retrieved 31 August 2023.</ref>

''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.<ref name = powo/>

==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. <ref>http://ecole.nav.traditions.free.fr/officiers_griffon_theophile.htm Retrieved at 10.02 on 31/10/20.</ref>

==Species== ''Griffonia'' comprises the following species:<ref name=trop1/><ref name=trop2>{{ cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40017508?tab=subordinatetaxa |title=Name - !''Griffonia'' Baill. subordinate taxa |work=Tropicos |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |location=Saint Louis, Missouri |accessdate=November 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb?version~10.01&genus~Griffonia&species~ | title = ILDIS LegumeWeb entry for ''Griffonia'' | author =  | website = International Legume Database & Information Service | publisher = Cardiff School of Computer Science & Informatics | accessdate = 8 May 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?5166 | title = GRIN species records of ''Griffonia'' | author = USDA | author-link = USDA | author2 = ARS | author2-link = Agricultural Research Service | author3 = National Genetic Resources Program | date = | website = Germplasm Resources Information Network—(GRIN) [Online Database] | publisher = National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland | accessdate = 5 May 2014 }}</ref><ref name=powo/>      * ''Griffonia physocarpa'' Baill. * ''Griffonia simplicifolia'' (M.Vahl ex DC.) Baill. * ''Griffonia speciosa'' (Welw. ''ex'' Benth.) Taub. * ''Griffonia tessmannii'' (De Wild.) Compère

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== *{{commonscat inline}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q2712144}}

Category:Cercidoideae Category:Fabaceae genera Category:Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon Category:Flora of the Afrotropical realm