Strychnos longicaudata
Gilg.
Loganiaceae
Strychnos bequaerti De Wild.
Strychnos brevicymosa De Wild.
Strychnos niamniamensis (Gilg) Gilg
Strychnos nigrovillosa De Wild.
Common Name:
General Information
Strychnos longicaudata is a climbing shrub that can produce stems up to 60 metres long and 15cm in diameter. It can grow up to 30 metres high into the canopy of the forest, attaching itself by means of tendrils[
299- Title
- Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.prota.org
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
,
332- Title
- The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Burkil. H. M.
- Publisher
- Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
- Year
- 1985 - 2004
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
,
2064- Title
- Loganiaceae
- Publication
- Flore d’Afrique centrale (Zaïre - Rwanda - Burundi), Spermatophytes
- Author
- Leeuwenberg A.J.M. & Bamps P.
- Website
- http://10.5281/zenodo.4569937
- Publisher
- Meise, Jardin botanique national de Belgique
- Year
- 1979
- ISBN
-
- Description
- This publication, along with many other from the Flore d’Afrique centrale, has been made available as a PDF document under a Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike 4.0 International licence (CC-BY-NC-SA)
].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of wood.
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[
500- Title
- Flora of Somalia
- Publication
-
- Author
- Thulin M. (Editor)
- Publisher
- Kew Publishing, London.
- Year
- 1993
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Detailed information on the plants of the region, often adding notes on the plants uses.
].
The plant is used as an ingredient of arrow poison[
299- Title
- Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.prota.org
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Botanical References
736- Title
- Flora of West Tropical Africa
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://plants.jstor.org/search?st=2025
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An online flora, not yet complet (2012). Very comprehensive as regards to species covered, but the information on each species is often rather terse.
,
2064- Title
- Loganiaceae
- Publication
- Flore d’Afrique centrale (Zaïre - Rwanda - Burundi), Spermatophytes
- Author
- Leeuwenberg A.J.M. & Bamps P.
- Website
- http://10.5281/zenodo.4569937
- Publisher
- Meise, Jardin botanique national de Belgique
- Year
- 1979
- ISBN
-
- Description
- This publication, along with many other from the Flore d’Afrique centrale, has been made available as a PDF document under a Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike 4.0 International licence (CC-BY-NC-SA)
Range
West tropical Africa - Cote d'Ivoire east to the Central African Republic and south to DR Congo.
Habitat
Moist localities and on river banks in rainforest, including the more open secondary formations; at elevations from sea-level up to 700 metres[
299- Title
- Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.prota.org
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Properties
| Medicinal Rating |  |
| Other Uses Rating |  |
| Habit | Climber |
| Height | 35.00 m |
| Cultivation Status | Wild |
Cultivation Details
Not known
Edible Uses
None known
Medicinal
Unspecified plant parts are used to treat chest-complaints, malaria[
299- Title
- Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.prota.org
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
A maceration of the twig bark in palm wine is taken as an aphrodisiac[
299- Title
- Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.prota.org
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Preliminary tests of leafy twigs from Côte d’Ivoire and leaves and seeds from Cameroon showed the presence of the monomeric strychnine class indole alkaloids icajine and vomicine. The root bark contains the dimeric tertiary longicaudatine and its isomer bisnor-C-alkaloid H[
299- Title
- Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.prota.org
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
The chloroform fraction of a bark extract showed a weak muscle-relaxant effect. Although icajine does not have an intrinsic antiplasmodial activity, it did reverse chloroquine resistance in in-vitro tests and proved to be synergistic with mefloquine[
299- Title
- Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.prota.org
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
].
Other Uses
The pale, dirty yellow or creamy wood is used to make arrow-shafts, machete handles and other small implements[
299- Title
- Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.prota.org
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
,
332- Title
- The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Burkil. H. M.
- Publisher
- Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
- Year
- 1985 - 2004
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
].
Propagation
Seed -
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Useful Tropical Plants Database 2014 by
Ken Fern,
web interface by
Ajna Fern
with help from
Richard Morris.
