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Aspidosperma album
Apocynaceae FAMILY

Aspidosperma album

Aspidosperma album

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The freshly cut wood and sap of Aspidosperma species causes irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, with general malaise[1]. The sawdust, on contact with abraded skin, produces local burning and a vesicular eruption with general symptoms of muscular weakness and cramps, sweating, dryness of the mouth, and faintness[1]. Once the wood is thoroughly dry it loses its toxicity unless polishes or dyes in organic solvents are used on it[1]

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

A very variable species, especially in leaf form[2]. This is possibly as a result of hybridisation with other members of the genus, possibly A. Spruceanum or A. Fendleri[2].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Aspidosperma+album>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]BoDD (Botanical Dermatology Database) — http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/ ↩︎Brief notes on a very wide range of plants that have reports of causing harm to the skin.
  2. [2]Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 38 — Missouri Botanical Garden · 1951 ↩︎An excellent botanical publication, available for download from the Internet. This volume contains part of the Flora of Panama and a revision of the genus Aspidosperma, amongst other things.
  3. [3]Contributions to The Flora of Venezuela. — Steyermark J.A. Et al · Chicago Natural History Museum; Chicago. · 1951 - 1957 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎An excellent flora, though made at a time when botanical knowledge of the areas was still very lacking.
  4. [4]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region
  5. [5]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  6. [6]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.