Strychnos

Distribution

Taxonomy

• Strychnos
• Rouhamon
• Breviflorae
• Penicillatae
• Aculeatae
• Spinosae
• Brevitubae
• Lanigerae
• Densiflorae
• Dolichantae
• Schyphostrychnos

  Selected species

• Strychnos benthami
• Strychnos camptoneura Gilg & Busse
• Strychnos chromatoxylon
• Strychnos elaeocarpa
• Strychnos ignatii
• Strychnos madagascariensis
• Strychnos mellodora
• Strychnos millepunctata
• Strychnos nux-vomica
• Strychnos potatorum
• Strychnos psilosperma
• Strychnos pungens
• Strychnos spinosa
• Strychnos staudtii
• Strychnos tetragona
• Strychnos usambarensis
• The strychnine tree, Strychnos nux-vomica, native to tropical Asia, is the source of the poison strychnine.
• Strychnos tonganensis, native to Tonga, related to Strychnos spinosa.
• Strychnos ignatii, is a closely related Asian shrub/tree.
• The species Strychnos toxifera, a principal plant source of the arrow poison curare.
• Three trees from Southern Africa, commonly known as "monkey oranges", are drought-tolerant and produce popular edible fruits: the corky-barked monkey orange or suurklapper, Strychnos cocculoides, the Natal orange or green or spiny monkey orange, Strychnos spinosa, and the black or spiny-leaved monkey orange Strychnos pungens.
• The ripe seeds of Strychnos potatorum, known as Therran or Nirmal, can be ground and used as a coagulant to purify water; or they may be rubbed against the inside walls of the earthenware water containers. Mrs Grieve's Herbal of 1931 also mentions traditional water purification uses of an Indian species called Strychnos pseudo.
• Two very well preserved fossilised corollas with stamens and styles from flowers of a plant that has been named Strychnos electri, believed to be a vine, were discovered in amber from the Dominican Republic. The amber is from tropical tree Hymenaea protera, formerly abundant but now extinct, which formed part of the forest canopy. The age of the amber is believed to be between 15 and 45 million years, from the mid-Tertiary period. This demonstrates an early date for these plants.