Acokanthera schimperi
Apocynaceae FAMILY

Acokanthera schimperi

Acokanthera schimperi

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

All parts of the plant, except the pulp of the fully ripe fruit, are highly poisonous[ 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. ]. They contain large amounts of cardiac glycosides (cardenolides), of which nearly 20 have been identified[ 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 plant is widely used as an arrow poison in Africa[ 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 only treatment against the poison is immediate excision of the flesh around the wound, or sucking the blood from the wound[ 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. ]. Birds have been known to drop dead on sucking nectar from the flowers[ 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ].

Botanical Description

Arrow poison tree is a dense, round, evergreen shrub, or a spreading, sparsely-branched tree growing up to 9 metres tall[ 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. , 418 Title Ecocrop Publication Author Website http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available. ]. The bole is short[ 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. ]. There are two main types of Acokanthera schimperi:- a large-leaved (up to 11 cm) and a small-leaved one[ 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. ]. A third type that is climbing and has shortly and sharply recurved leaf margins has been reported in Kenya[ 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. ]. This species, and other members of the genus, are among the most commonly used plant species for the preparation of poison in East Africa[ 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. ]. An ornamental plant, it is used to provide shade or live fences in parks or around houses. It is also employed medicinally and is an important food in times of famine[ 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. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical
Native RangeEast tropical Africa - Eritrea south to Tanzania and west to Uganda, Rwanda and eastern DR Congo.
HabitatMargins of dry forest, in relict forest, thickets, grasslands and bushland, at elevations from 1,100 - 2,400 metres[ 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. ].