Common Name:

General Information

Strophanthus boivinii is a dense, spreading, semideciduous shrub or a tree that is deciduous in drier situations; it usually grows up to 12 metres tall but sometimes up to 30 metres tall in the forest. The bole can up to 40cm in diameter[].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use. It is sometimes sold as a rare ornamental because of its striking orange-brown flowers[].

Known Hazards

The plant contains toxic glycosides and all parts of it are considered to be toxic if ingested[].
A decoction of the aerial parts is used to poison dogs and pest animals[].

Botanical References

Range

Africa - Madagascar.

Habitat

Dry deciduous forest and thickets, sometimes on limestone, at elevations from sea-level up to 800 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Semi-deciduous Tree
Height	8.00 m
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Succeeds in both full sun and in shade[]. Grows in a range of well-drained soils[]. The plant grows more vigorously in moister soils, flowering less freely but over a longer period[]. Established plants are drought tolerant[].
It is a compact shrub when container-grown, and can be trained into a small tree[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

A decoction of the aerial parts is drunk to treat gonorrhoea and fever[].

A bark decoction is taken to treat colic and is rubbed in to treat wounds and itch[].

Several cardiac glycosides (cardenolides) have been isolated from the seeds and leaves[].
The seeds contain mainly glycosides based on the aglycone corotoxigenin: milloside, paulioside, stroboside, boistroside and christyoside. In addition, the gitogenin glycoside strospeside is found[].
The leaves also contain glycosides, with paulioside, boistroside, strospeside, madagascoside, zettoside and sadleroside as main components[].
Only strospeside is also present in other Strophanthus species[].

Other Uses

The wood is soft[].

Propagation

Seed -

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