Tree Tuesday: Strychnos - Monkey Orange

There are 9 Strychnos species in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa with the Strychnos spinose, cocculoides and madagascariensis as the most popular.

The name "Strychnos" means “deadly” in Greek, and it was given to this tree due to the poisonous chemicals found in the seeds. It is a small to medium-sized (3-5m), deciduous tree, with dense branches forming a canopy, perfect for shade in the summer.

The fruit is large, round, smooth, and green. The shell of the fruit hardens and turns yellow when ripe. Inside the fruit are brown compacted seeds covered by juicy, sweetish-sour edible flesh.

Fruit can be picked while green if you bury it in the sand for a few months to ripen. The shell is used as an instrument (rattle - if you place hard, dried seeds in it), and the fruit is sometimes fermented to make alcoholic beverages and also dried to use later.

The leaves do not have stalks and are clustered on smaller twigs, each with 3 veins and curvy margins. Leaves are smooth, ovate and glossy green. They often use the leaves as a vegetable and grazing animals love it too. The Strychnos have green-white clustered flowers at the base of the leaves which bloom in spring.

The bark is a light greyish-brown which darkens with age and it flakes. This tree thrives in full sun but can cope with semi-shade, ideal temperatures should range between 16-28°C, needs well-drained or sandy soil, and not too much water.

You can propagate it by soaking the fresh seed in hot water for about 24-48 hours. The perfect germinating temperature is 23°C.

Medicinal purposes range from an antidote for snake bites to treating colds, fever, inflammation(in the eyes), and earache.

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