Loganiaceae FAMILY
Strychnos castelnaeana
Strychnos castelnaeana
Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
3/5
Safety & Hazards
The bark is one of the sources of 'Curare', an arrow poison produced in the jungles of the Amazon. Curare has a number of applications in modern medicine[1]. The bark contains the alkaloid curarine, which paralyses the peripheral nerves so voluntary muscles for respiration cease action and asphyxiation occur[2].
Cultivation Details
HabitClimber
Growth—
Not known
Propagation
Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Strychnos+castelnaeana>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Flora of Peru — Macbride. J.F. · Field Museum of Natural History · 1936 ↩︎An excellent attempt at a Flora of Peru, though it is clear that many of the plants were imperfectly known at that time and so information on them was sketchy. Available for download from the Internet.
- [2]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
- [3]An Illustrated Dictionary of Medicine, Biology and Allied Sciences. — Gould G.M. · P. Blakiston's Son & Co.; Philadelphia. · 1907 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎A major work at the time, though very dated now. Contains quite a lot of information about medicinal plant uses.
- [4]Flora Medica — Lindley J. · Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans: London · 1838 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎A massive work - many of the botanical names have changed, but the book is still a wealth of information.