Common Name:

General Information

Strychnos innocua is a deciduous shrub or small often much branched tree usually growing from 2 - 12 metres tall, but with some specimens to 18 metres. The straight bole is usually branched from low down and is 7 - 40cm in diameter[, , ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine, fuel and insect repellent.

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

Tropical Africa - Cote D'Ivoire to Ethiopia, south to Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Madagascar.

Habitat

Deciduous woodlands at elevations from near sea level to around 1,600 metres in southern Africa[]. Savannah forests all over tropical Africa in open woodland and on rocky hills[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	10.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of drier areas in the tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,600 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 19 - 31°c, but can tolerate 15 - 36°c[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall of 500 - 900mm, tolerating 400 - 1,200mm[].
Requires a sunny position in a well-drained soil[]. Found in the wild on light yellowish-brown to reddish-yellow, gritty sandy clay loams derived from granite and granodiorite rocks[, ]. Prefers a Ph in the range 5.5 - 6.5, tolerating 5 - 7[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw[, , ]. The ripe pulp is eaten[]. A sweet-sour, yellowish pulp with a slimy texture, containing many seeds[, , ]. The fruit can cause stomach upsets if eaten in large quantities due to the presence of strychnine[]. The yellowish or orange globose fruits are 4 - 10cm in diameter with a hard, woody skin[, , ].

Leaves - cooked and eaten as a vegetable in some parts of west Africa[].

Medicinal

A root decoction is taken as an aphrodisiac and a remedy for gonorrhoea[, , ]. The fresh roots are used to treat snakebite[, , ].

The bark and twigs are pounded, soaked in cold water and the infusion drunk to facilitate childbirth[, ]. It is said that the infusion puts the baby in the right position and eases childbirth[].

The fruit pulp is used as a remedy for dysentery and as eardrops[, ].

The seeds have emetic properties[, ].

Other Uses

A mixture of ground roots and oil is rubbed on the skin as a fly repellent[, ].

Small branches are used for toothbrushes and toothpicks[].

An oil obtained from the fruit pulp and seeds is used in making soap[].

The cream or pale yellow hardwood is inclined to split. The wood is used for making tool handles, other small items and building poles[, ].
The tree provides an excellent firewood that burns even when wet[, ].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe[].
The seed can be stored for up to 2 months with no loss of viability[].

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