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Strychnos cocculoides
Loganiaceae FAMILY

Strychnos cocculoides

Strychnos cocculoides

Edibility
3/5
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[1]. The fruits contain bony seeds which are said to be poisonous[2, 3].

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
Growth—

A plant of moderate elevations in dry to moist tropical areas with seasonal rainfall, where it can be found at elevations from 400 - 2,000 metres[4]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures fall within the range 16 - 28°c, but can tolerate 12 - 40°c[4]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall within the range 700 - 1,200mm, tolerating 400 - 1,400mm[4]. Prefers an open, sunny position[4]. It is not very specific to soil type, being found in the wild on deep sandy soil on rocky slopes, and also growing on acidic dark-grey clays and red or yellow-red loams[2, 4]. It prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7.5, tolerating 4.5 - 8[4]. The fruit can take 12 months from flowering to ripening[3]. Trees respond well to coppicing[2, 3].

Propagation

The seed is hard to germinate because it has a hard seed coat that requires pre-treatment. It is recommended that the fresh seed is used where possible and that it be soaked in hot water for 24 - 48 hours prior to sowing[3]. The optimum temperature for the germination of the seed is 23.5°c, with a germination range of 11.8 - 36°c[4]. The seed has a short viability of 2 months at the most when stored at room temperature[2]. Root suckers. These can be encouraged to develop by wounding the tree[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Strychnos+cocculoides>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Flora of Somalia — Thulin M. (Editor) · Kew Publishing, London. · 1993 ↩︎Detailed information on the plants of the region, often adding notes on the plants uses.
  2. [2]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  3. [3]Indigenous multipurpose trees of Tanzania. — Hines. D.A. & Eckman. K. · 1993 · ISBN 0-9697075-0-9 ↩︎A simple handbook with information on over 50 species of trees found in Tanzania giving details of environmental requirements, cultivation needs, uses etc. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  4. [4]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  5. [5]Flora of Zimbabwe — http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/ ↩︎Over 2,000 species as of 2009 (and growing). Each record usually has at least one photo with a botanical description of the plant, range, habitat etc. A very useful site.
  6. [6]Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania — Ruffo, C.K.: Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B. · Regional Land Management Unit; Nairobi. · 2002 · ISBN 9966-896-60-0 ↩︎A very well presented, simple guide to growing and utilizing wild food plants in Tanzania, with line drawings of each plant, a description, habitat and range, non-food as well as food uses, plus basic information on growing the plants.
  7. [7]Loganiaceae — Leeuwenberg A.J.M. & Bamps P. · Meise, Jardin botanique national de Belgique · 1979 · http://10.5281/zenodo.4569937 ↩︎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)
  8. [8]Gemsbok Bean and Kalahari Truffle — Leffers A. · Gamsberg MacMillan; Namibia. · 2003 · ISBN 99916-0-491-X ↩︎Details of the traditional uses of over 200 species of plants in northeastern Namibia. Written for the non-expert, there is usually at least one photograph with each plant entry.
  9. [9]Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics : an Inventory — Martin, F. W.; Campbell, C. W.; Rubertbe, R. M. · U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service · 1987 ↩︎A booklet giving terse details of almost 300 species of edible fruits, plus regional lists of Botanical and Common names for over 2,500 less well-known edible fruits of the tropics.
  10. [10]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.