BOTANICAL RECORD
Griffonia simplicifolia (Vahl ex DC.) Baill.
Griffonia · Fabaceae
Botany & ecology
Griffonia simplicifolia identified and confirmed by JB. Identification reported as made “last week”; no exact date is assigned. No independent specimen examination or local photograph accompanies this addition.
A simple-leaved legume
Botanical reference
- Current classification places it in Fabaceae, subfamily Cercidoideae, tribe Cercideae. Caesalpiniaceae or Caesalpinioideae in older works reflect earlier classifications. Belonging to the legumes does not by itself demonstrate symbiotic nitrogen fixation in this specimen.
No root-nodule data are available for the valley plant.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: High
Identified botanical or nomenclatural reference; limited to documentary description.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Flowers and pods
Botanical reference
- Axillary greenish-flowered clusters; inflated, leathery pods about 8 × 4 cm, containing one to four rounded seeds.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: High
Identified botanical or nomenclatural reference; limited to documentary description.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Forest edges and secondary vegetation
Botanical reference
- Habitats include thickets, secondary forests, forest edges and coastal environments. Exact conditions around JB’s plant remain to be documented.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: High
Identified botanical or nomenclatural reference; limited to documentary description.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Recognising the foliage
Botanical reference
- Alternate, simple, hairless, ovate leaves, 6–12 × 3–6 cm; rounded to heart-shaped bases and three to five main basal veins.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: High
Identified botanical or nomenclatural reference; limited to documentary description.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
A calendar to observe locally
Reported observation
- The Togolese germination study collected seeds between January and March. This timing concerns the Lomé study site, not necessarily the valley. Recording flowers, green pods and ripe pods would establish a calendar for JB’s plant.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: High
Published observation in a specified context; local transferability has not been demonstrated.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Pollination remains to be clarified
Hypothesis
- The detailed 2021 synthesis proposes bird pollination and self-incompatibility by comparison with relatives. These are hypotheses, not observations of the valley plant.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: Moderate
Proposal explicitly distinguished from an observed fact.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Native African range
Botanical reference
- Kew lists the native range as Benin, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo. The species occurs primarily in the wet tropical biome. Its native occurrence in Ghana is established independently of JB’s record.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: High
Identified botanical or nomenclatural reference; limited to documentary description.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Accepted name and nomenclatural history
Botanical reference
- Kew accepts Griffonia simplicifolia (Vahl ex DC.) Baill. The original name Schotia simplicifolia Vahl ex DC. dates to 1825; Bandeiraea simplicifolia (Vahl ex DC.) Benth. to 1865; the combination in Griffonia to 1866. These names refer to the same taxon, not three species.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: High
Identified botanical or nomenclatural reference; limited to documentary description.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Trade and regeneration
Literature synthesis
- The 2021 analysis describes trade in wild seeds and short-distance ballistic dispersal. It highlights forest loss, seed removal, grazing and destructive harvest. These pressures do not constitute an IUCN status.
Documentation and strength of evidence
Documentation: High
Identified scholarly source; conclusions retained with their limitations and date.
Claimed effect: Not evaluated
Record sources 21
Sources and origins
A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Some Asante Weed Names
- Author or institution
- Abdulai Akuamah
- Publication year
- 2021
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Linguistic study
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Page 192: Kagya and proverbial usage; the latter is not a literal translation.
Conservation of a Rare Medicinal Plant: A Case Study of Griffonia simplicifolia
- Author or institution
- M. M. Balogun; M. O. Jimoh; O. T. Ogundipe
- Publication year
- 2020
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Cutting propagation experiment
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Limited Nigerian study; rare in the title does not establish a global conservation status.
Herbage yields and quality in four woody forage plants in a subhumid environment in Ghana
- Author or institution
- P. Barnes
- Publication year
- 1998
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Agronomic trial
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Older local comparison; biomass production, not evidence of human food safety.
Diversity and conservation of medicinal plants in the Bomaa community of the Brong Ahafo region, Ghana
- Author or institution
- P. Addo-Fordjour; A. K. Anning; E. J. D. Belford; D. Akonnor
- Publication year
- 2008
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Ethnobotanical survey
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Knowledge documented in Bomaa; no extrapolation to all Ghanaian communities.
Tryptophan and 5-Hydroxytryptophan for depression
- Author or institution
- K. A. Shaw; J. Turner; C. Del Mar
- Publication year
- 2002
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Systematic review
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Older review combining two substances; useful for historical evidence limitations, not proof that no subsequent research exists.
From forest to pharmacy: Should we be depressed about a sustainable Griffonia simplicifolia (Fabaceae) seed supply chain?
- Author or institution
- A. B. Cunningham; J. A. Brinckmann; D. E. V. Harter
- Publication year
- 2021
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Trade analysis and ecological synthesis
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Historical trade data, not a 2026 market assessment. Pollination and self-incompatibility are framed as hypotheses in the detailed text.
Medicinal Plants Used in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality, Southern Ghana: An Ethnobotanical Study
- Author or institution
- K. S. Appiah et al.
- Publication year
- 2019
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Ethnobotanical survey
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
2016 survey; voucher CPMR 4073. Reported uses do not demonstrate effectiveness.
Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen — Griffonia
- Author or institution
- Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin
- Publication year
- 2018
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Botanical historical reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
The genus eponym does not imply that Griffon du Bellay discovered the valley specimen.
Germination and conservation of the germinative power of Griffonia simplicifolia (DC.) Baill
- Author or institution
- K. D. Etse; A. Adjallah; B. Johnson; M. L. A. Quashie; R. Radji
- Publication year
- 2022
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Germination experiment
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Lomé ecotype and controlled conditions; performance is not guaranteed in the valley. The paper’s threat wording is not a global IUCN assessment.
Griffonia Baill. — Plants of the World Online
- Author or institution
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Publication year
- Continuously updated database
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Nomenclatural reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
The genus dates to 1865; the species combination to 1866.
Griffonia simplicifolia — GRIN taxonomy
- Author or institution
- USDA ARS / Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Publication year
- Continuously updated database
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Taxonomic reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Modern classification differs from the older families used in several papers.
Effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan on distinct types of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Author or institution
- F. Javelle et al.
- Publication year
- 2020
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Systematic review and meta-analysis
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Search ended in May 2018; overall weak studies and few placebo groups. Results for 5-HTP do not validate every Griffonia preparation.
JB — Griffonia identification in the valley
- Author or institution
- JB
- Publication year
- 2026
- Type
- Direct user account
- Geographic origin
- In the valley
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
- Provenance and context
- JB reports a climber identified “last week”, specifies “in the valley”, and confirms: “The first one, it is indeed Griffonia simplicifolia.”
Exact date, location point, photographs, dimensions and flowering/fruiting stage were not provided. The consultation date is the report date, not the identification date.
Griffonia simplicifolia — Plants of the World Online
- Author or institution
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Publication year
- Continuously updated database
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Taxonomic reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Taxonomy and native range; does not verify the valley specimen.
Taxonomic Terminology of the Higher Plants — Some Specific Epithets
- Author or institution
- H. I. Featherly
- Publication year
- 1954
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Botanical Latin reference
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Simplicifolius, -a, -um means simple-leaved; it is not a Greek root.
Carbohydrate binding and resistance to proteolysis control insecticidal activity of Griffonia simplicifolia lectin II
- Author or institution
- K. Zhu-Salzman et al.
- Publication year
- 1998
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Biochemical experiment
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Tests of a lectin and a model insect; no validation of homemade crop treatments.
Selective neuronal glycoconjugate expression in sensory and autonomic ganglia: relation of lectin reactivity to peptide and enzyme markers
- Author or institution
- J. D. Silverman; L. Kruger
- Publication year
- 1990
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Histochemical research
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Laboratory tissue probe; does not demonstrate benefits from consuming the plant.
An HPLC method for the direct assay of the serotonin precursor, 5-hydroxytrophan, in seeds of Griffonia simplicifolia
- Author or institution
- P. A. Lemaire; R. K. Adosraku
- Publication year
- 2002
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Chemical analysis
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Analytical seed method, not a therapeutic trial; publisher abstract consulted.
Griffonia simplicifolia — PROTA
- Author or institution
- C. H. Bosch
- Publication year
- 2008
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Botanical monograph
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Historical synthesis useful for morphology and uses; clinical assertions and older propagation failures are not adopted as current conclusions.
Griffonia — Herbal Safety
- Author or institution
- Armando Gonzalez Stuart / University of Texas at El Paso
- Publication year
- Undated
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- University safety information
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Precautionary synthesis; does not replace individual medical advice.
Chemical Characterization and DNA Fingerprinting of Griffonia simplicifolia Baill.
- Author or institution
- I. Vigliante; G. Mannino; M. E. Maffei
- Publication year
- 2019
- Source link
- View source ↗
- Type
- Chemical and molecular analysis
- Date accessed
- 2026-10-10
Commercial seeds of Ivorian origin; concentrations depend on sample and method.