Considered a shrub of the Caesalpiniaceae family, this medicinal plant flourishes in the wild, throughout Central and West Africa. Griffonia simplicifolia is a medicinal plant native to tropical Africa, and may be expected to grow in grassy savannas, scrub thickets, and disturbed areas of secondary growth.
In traditional healing systems of the Central and West African regions, they use every single part of the plant for their medicine. Western medicine focuses on the high content level of serotonin precursor and management of sickle cell anemia.
Healing of infected skin lesions (topical leaf and bark decoction), purgative for constipation (oral stem and leaf decoction), reduce eye inflammation (topical drops from leaf sap), aphrodisiac (chewing of stem), are just some of the examples of traditional use.