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Botanical name |
Strychnos madagascariensis (SA No 626) |
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Other names |
Black monkey orange; swartklapper (Afrikaans) |
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Family |
Loganiaceae |
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Dimensions |
Usually a small tree, but ranging from a shrub to a tree of 6 m |
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Description of stem |
Often multistemmed; smooth grey bark; no thorns although persistent small branches appear like spines; young branches have conspicuous lenticels |
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Description of leaves |
Oval to obovate opposite leaves of varying size; shiny, green above, paler green below; 3 veins emanating a short distance from the leaf base, 2 additional veins run close to the leaf edge; the margin is entire |
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Description of flowers |
Yellow-green, four or five-lobed flower parts, flowers occurring in axillary clusters during August and September |
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Description of seed/fruit |
A spherical berry, about 8 cm in diameter, changes from green or blue-green to yellow around February and often persists until the next summer; the seeds are embedded in a sweet, light yellow pulp; they are said to contain strychnine |
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Description of roots |
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Variation |
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Propagation and cultivation |
Can be grown from seed |
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Tolerances |
Mildly frost-resistant |
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Uses |
The fruit is edible, it is sometimes dried to store; roots are ground up and a decoction is taken orally with hot water as an emetic; fruit used as ornaments; browsed by game |
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Ecological rarity |
Not common |
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Pests and diseases |
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Other |
The wood is light coloured |
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Location |
Open bush areas or coastal forests, on hills and next to rivers |
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Distribution (SA provinces) |
North West; Gauteng; Limpopo; Mpumalanga |
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Country |
South Africa; Swaziland; Mozambique; Zimbabwe; Botswana; Zambia; Madagascar; Tanzania |