Common Name:

General Information

Strychnos afzelii is a vigorous climbing shrub, producing stems up to 50 metres long that climb high into the forest canopy, attaching themselves by means of tendrils and blunt spines[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of materials.

Known 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[].

Botanical References

Range

West tropical Africa - Senegal to Nigeria.

Habitat

River banks or in moist localities in periodically inundated rainforest, including secondary forest and coastal swamp forest, from sea-level up to 700 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Climber
Height	35.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The crushed leaves and roots, combined with the crushed leaves of Hugonia planchonii, are applied to treat abscesses and swellings[].

A decoction of the seeds, combined with the leaves of Ocimum species or other aromatic herbs, is taken to promote sweating in cases of fever attacks. Ground seeds are taken in soup to treat stomach-ache[].

All parts of the plant smell like cloves, especially the twig bark. Women rub the sap from the crushed leaves, either pure or mixed with white clay, onto the body to act as a fragrance and an aphrodisiac[]

The leaves are chewed to treat bad breath[].

The plant contains several indole alkaloids[].
Stem bark extracts have shown activity against several micro-organisms, including some species associated with caries[].
Bisnordihydrotoxiferine, an alkaloid found in the root bark, has shown a wide antimicrobial spectrum against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and against filamentous and yeast-like fungi. Preliminary studies of this compound also revealed some cytotoxic activity in vitro against sarcoma 180 tumours[].

Other Uses

All parts of the plant smell like cloves, especially the twig bark. The sap from the crushed leaves, either on its own or mixed with white clay, is rubbed onto the body as a fragrance[].

The twigs are used as chew-sticks to maintain oral hygeine and strengthen the gums[].

Chewing the leaves makes the lips red, and in Ghana the leaves are chewed for this purpose[].

Propagation

Seed -

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