Kakawate

Gliricidia sepium, often simply referred to as gliricidia or by its Spanish common name madre de cacao (calque of Nahuatl cacahuanāntli; also anglicized as mother of cocoa), is a medium size leguminous tree belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is an important multi-purpose legume tree, with a native range from Mexico to Colombia, but now widely introduced to other tropical zones.

Excerpt from “Gliricidia sepium” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sa Tagalog

Ang kakawate (mula sa katutubong salitang Mehikanong cacahuate; Ingles: Gliricidia, Mexican lilac, mother of cocoa, Nicaraguan cacao shade, quickstick, St. Vincent plum, at tree of iron) ay isang uri ng puno na karaniwang itinatanim bilang palamuti. Ginagamit itong silungan o pananggalang sa labis na sikat ng araw para sa mga punong kakaw.

Sipi mula sa “Kakawate” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recorded in the Philippines

GBIF holds 224 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 31 provinces, most often Zamboanga del Norte (49), Agusan del Sur (27), Bataan (14), Cebu (8), Guimaras (8), Iloilo (8), Palawan (6), Antique (5), and 23 more.

Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.