Common Name:

General Information

Strophanthus preussii is an evergreen plant, sometimes growing as a shrub up to 5 metres tall but more commonly adopting a twining habit and producing stems up to 12 metres long that grow into the surrounding trees for support[]. The stems are up to 25mm in diameter[]. The plant can become deciduous in drier conditions[].
The plant is often grown as an ornamental, valued especially for its strikingly beautiful flowers with very long corolla tails[]. The flowering branches are sometimes used as cut-flower[].

Known Hazards

The latex or seeds are used in arrow poison mixture, but because they are less toxic than those of Strophanthus gratus and Strophanthus hispidus, they are of second choice[].

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Uganda and Tanzania, south to Angola and DR Congo.

Habitat

Primary and secondary moist forest, gallery forest, forest margins and clearings, at elevations from sea-level up to 1,400 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Semi-deciduous Climber
Height	10.00 m
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Succeeds in full sun to partial shade[]. Grows best in a fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil[]. Prefers a slightly alkaline soil[].
Plants can be kept shrub-like through pruning[].

Edible Uses

The young leaves are said to be cooked and eaten as a vegetable[].

Medicinal

The latex, or the young leaves crushed in water, are applied to treat gonorrhoea[].
The latex is put on sores and wounds to promote healing[].

A leaf decoction is taken to treat post-partum pain[].

Unlike the related species S. Gratus and S. Hispidus, the seeds of this species are not rich in cardiac glycosides[].

Other Uses

The latex of the plant is used for coagulating the latex of Futumia elastica when making rubber[, ].

A fibre obtained from the stems is used to make fishing lines, nets and ropes[].

The stems are used to make bows[].

Propagation

Seed -
Softwood cuttings.

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