Common Name:

General Information

Strychnos lucida is a shrub or small deciduous tree; it can grow up to 12 metres tall. The bole is often crooked and can be up to 25cm in diameter. The plant is spiny when young[, , ].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.

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[].
The leaves and fruits are used as a fish poison[].
Although this species is suspected of being poisonous to stock, the evidence is not completely convincing[].

Botanical References

, ,

Range

Southeast Asia - Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia to northern Australia.

Habitat

Teak forest and other dryland forest, often in secondary forest but also in scrubs and savannahs, usually at elevations up to 200 metres, occasionally to 400 metres[]. Also found on limestone hills in Thailand[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	8.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the tropics, found in areas with a monsoon climate and generally avoiding areas with year round rainfall[, ].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The bark, bitter-tasting wood and roots are used in traditional medicine to treat fever, snake bites, sores, wounds, eczema, and as stomachic and vermifuge[, ].

The fruit pulp is applied to the skin to treat skin complaints such as scabies, rashes, burns, leprosy, sores and cuts[].

The roots are used to treat diabetes[].

Other Uses

The wood is heavy and very close-grained[]. No uses are mentioned.

Propagation

Seed -

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