Botanical name |
Strychnos pungens (SA No 628) |
Other names |
Spine-leaved monkey orange; stekelblaarklapper (Afrikaans) |
Family |
Strychnaceae or Loganiaceae |
Dimensions |
Small tree or shrub, mostly 3 to 5 m |
Description of stem |
Rough, grey, flaking bark on old, thick trunks, smooth on younger branches; conspicuous lenticels on young branches; without spines but with short spinelike branches |
Description of leaves |
Elliptic, glabrous, dark green and leathery, ending in a sharp spine at the apex; three-veined, the outer two completing a smaller irregular elliptical pattern than the leaf edge; lighter below than above, smooth, entire margin; short, thick petiole |
Description of flowers |
Clusters of small white flowers, often slightly greenish |
Description of seed/fruit |
Green or blue-green, woody-rinded fruit; close to spherical, usually irregularly marked on the surface; hard, usually yellow by midwinter, containing many seeds in an edible pulp |
Description of roots |
|
Variation |
|
Propagation and cultivation |
|
Tolerances |
|
Uses |
Ripe fruit pulp edible, although the seeds may contain poison; various medicinal uses, including a decoction of the roots that is used for stomach ache and bronchitis |
Ecological rarity |
|
Pests and diseases |
|
Other |
The Indian strychnos species that yields strychnine may have given rise to the name of the genus; pungens refers to the spine on the leaf tip; the wood is yellow, not often used |
Location |
Bushveld and woodland, rocky hills and sandy patches |
Distribution (SA provinces) |
Gauteng, Northwest, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape |
Country |
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia |
Info | Palgrave |