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Strychnos spinosa
Loganiaceae FAMILY

Strychnos spinosa

Strychnos spinosa

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 seeds and unripe fruits are toxic[2].

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthMedium

A plant of hot, dry, tropical and subtropical savannah, where it is found at elevations to 1,500 metres or more[3, 4]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 28°c, though it can tolerate 15 - 32°c and can even withstand occasional light frosts[3, 4]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall of 700 - 1,000mm, tolerating 600 - 1,500mm[4]. Best grown in full sun, but can tolerate some shade[5]. Prefers well-drained sandy soils and can also grow in rocky areas with poor soils[5, 4, 6]. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 7, but tolerates 4.5 - 7.5[7]. The plant grows relatively fast from seed and responds well to cultivation[5]. A range of cultivated forms have been developed, with different shaped fruits and some with no seeds[8].

Propagation

Seeds are soaked in hot water or the hard coat is burned to facilitate germination[2]. Root suckers[2]. The roots are pruned to encourage suckering[2]. Cuttings of half-ripe wood. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Strychnos+spinosa>

Pollinators

Insects

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]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.
  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]PlantZAfrica.com — http://www.plantzafrica.com ↩︎An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
  6. [6]Frutipedia - Encyclopedia of Edible Fruits of the World — Parmar Dr. C. · http://fruitipedia.com/index.htm ↩︎An online publication, listing over 400 species of fruits, usually with photos and some information on the plant.
  7. [7]Medicinal Plants in Papua New Guinea — World Health Organisation · 2009 · ISBN 978-92-9061-249-0 ↩︎Traditional medicinal uses of 126 species from Papua New Guinea, including information on modern research into the plants.
  8. [8]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  9. [9]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.
  10. [10]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
  11. [11]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.
  12. [12]Brazilian Fruits and Cultivated Exotics — Lorenzi. H.; Bacher. L.; Lacerda. M.; Sartori. S. · Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora LTDA; Brazil. · 2000 · ISBN 85-867174-24-0 ↩︎A superb book, giving information on several hundred fruit species. Each entry has a brief description of the plant and its uses, accompanied by one to many excellent quality photographs of the fruits.
  13. [13]Useful Plants of Nyasaland — Williamson J. · The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland. · 1955 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Brief details of the uses of almost 500 species of plants.
  14. [14]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  15. [15]Trees and Shrubs of the Sahel. Their Characteristics and Uses. — von Maydell H. · Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit; Germany · 1990 · ISBN 3-8236-1198-4 ↩︎A well-researched book, usually with more than one photograph of each species and good information on the plant and its uses.
  16. [16]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.