Strychnos potatorum
Loganiaceae FAMILY

Strychnos potatorum

Strychnos potatorum

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

Various parts of Strychnos plants, especially the seeds and bark, contain toxic alkaloids such as strychnine and brucine. The fleshy pulp of the ripe fruits, however, is often edible[ 500 Title Flora of Somalia Publication Author Thulin M. (Editor) Publisher Kew Publishing, London. Year 1993 ISBN Description Detailed information on the plants of the region, often adding notes on the plants uses. ]. The pounded fruits are used as fish poison[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The crushed bark is used as a fish poison[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Botanical Description

Strychnos potatorum is a deciduous, much branched small or medium sized tree, or sometimes a shrub, growing around 4 - 18 metres tall[ 308 Title Flora Zambesiaca Publication Author Website http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants. ]. The bole can be up to 100cm in diameter[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. , 2064 Title Loganiaceae Publication Flore d’Afrique centrale (Zaïre - Rwanda - Burundi), Spermatophytes Author Leeuwenberg A.J.M. & Bamps P. Website http://10.5281/zenodo.4569937 Publisher Meise, Jardin botanique national de Belgique Year 1979 ISBN Description This publication, along with many other from the Flore d’Afrique centrale, has been made available as a PDF document under a Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike 4.0 International licence (CC-BY-NC-SA) ]. The plant has a variety of local medicinal uses and is also used locally to clarify water prior to drinking it. The seeds are harvested in large quantities from the wild and are sold as a water purifier in local markets[ 2 Title Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Publication Author Hedrick. U. P. Publisher Dover Publications Year 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6 Description Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references. , 2020 Title Trade in Indian Medicinal Plants Publication Ethnobotany of India Vol 5., 321-345, 2018 Author D.K.Ved, S.Noorunnisa Begum, & K.Ravi Kumar Publisher Apple Academic Press; Oakville, Canada Year 2018 ISBN 978-1-77188-600-0 Description ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical
Native RangeE. Asia - India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar. Tropical Africa - DR Congo to Tanzania, south to northern S. Africa, Madagascar
HabitatIn gallery forest, in Brachystegia woodland, semi evergreen bushland, often on river banks, on banks of dry riverbeds, or on termitaries from sea level to elevations of 1,600 metres[ 308 Title Flora Zambesiaca Publication Author Website http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants. ].