- Family:
- Loganiaceae R.Br. ex Mart.
- Genus:
- Strychnos L.
Strychnos pungens Soler.

[FZ]
Loganiaceae, A. J. M. Leeuwenberg. Flora Zambesiaca 7:1. 1983
- Morphology General Habit
- Deciduous tree or shrub (0·30)2–8(16) m. high.
- Morphology Trunk
- Trunk 10–20 cm. in diam. or more.
- Morphology General Bark
- Bark grey or brown, rough, closely and shallowly reticulate–, not corky, smooth and grey higher up or in young trees; inner bark yellow; wood yellowish, with large bark–islets.
- Morphology Branches
- Branches pale to dark brown, conspicuously and densely lenticellate, not sulcate; branchlets glabrous or occasionally with few hairs.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves: petiole short, glabrous, 1–4 mm. long; lamina shining and dark green above, hardly or not paler and less shining beneath, coriaceous, rigid, elliptic, narrowly elliptic, obovate, or occasionally orbicular, (1)2–4(5) x as long as wide, (2)3–8(10) x 1–3·5(4·5) cm., acute or rounded and sharply pointed at the apex, cuneate or rounded at the base, glabrous on both sides or occasionally partly pubescent beneath; one pair of secondary veins from or from above the base curved along the margin and often a faint submarginal pair; tertiary venation reticulate.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences axillary or ramiflorous, mostly several together, usually very short and about 0–25 x as long as the leaves, 1 x 1–2 x 2(4 x 5) cm., usually congested and subsessile, rarely lax.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel
- Pedicels very short.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers 5–merous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Sepals green, nearly free, subequal, the inner slightly smaller, ovate, broadly ovate, or sometimes orbicular, 1–1·5 x as long as wide, 2·4 x 2·3 mm., acute, obtuse, or rounded at the mostly slightly keeled apex, conspicuously ciliate, glabrous on both sides or inside minutely appressed–pubescent at the base, without colleters.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla in the mature bud 2·4–3·2 x as long as the calyx, 7–9·5 mm. long, greenish–creamy, or –yellow, glabrous outside, inside with a brush–like ring of white lanate hairs in the throat and just on the base of the lobes; tube cylindrical or nearly so, 1·4–2 x as long as the calyx, 1–1·7 x as long as the lobes, 4–5·5 mm. long, 1·5–3 mm. wide at the base, 2–3·5 mm. at the throat; lobes thick, narrowly triangular, 2–2·7 x as long as wide, 3–4 x 1·3–2 mm., acute, spreading.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens slightly exserted; filaments 0·1–0·2 x as long as the anthers, inserted at the mouth of the corolla tube, glabrous; anthers oblong, 1–2 x 0·5–1 mm., glabrous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Pistil pilose in the middle, 5–7·5 mm. long; ovary ovoid or oblong, 1–3 x 0·7–2 mm., 2–celled, apically pilose, often with a disk–like base; style thick, 2·5–4·5 mm. long, at the base hairy like the ovary at the apex; stigma capitate.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary Ovules
- In each cell 25–60 ovules.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit orange or yellow, nearly mature bluish–green, large, hard, globose, 5–12(15) cm. in diam., with about 20–100 seeds, with somewhat granular skin, slightly shining. Wall thick, (2)4–6 mm. thick, thicker above pedicel, woody when dry. Pulp sweet–tasting.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds ochraceous, flattened, more or less plano–convex, obliquely ovate, elliptic, or trullate, usually irregularly curved, 20–24 x 12–7 x 5–10 mm., with thick very short erect hairs, rather rough.
[FTEA]
Loganiaceae, E. A. Bruce & J. Lewis. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1960
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrub or slender much-branched small tree, 3–8 m. high, with a ± dense stiff growth, glabrous except for the inflorescence; branches unarmed, with rough grey or brown bark, often longitudinally split or corky; young branchlets usually pale brown, conspicuously lenticellate.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves subsessile, coriaceous, rigid, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, elliptic or obovate, 4–8 cm. long, 1–4 cm. wide, acute or subacute and conspicuously pungent, cuneate or rounded at the base, shining above; nerves 3 (or 5) from or just above the base; tertiary venation conspicuous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Cymes usually ± dense and shorter than the leaves, rarely lax.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx-lobes ovate, acute, ciliate, about 2.5 mm. long.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla greenish-cream-coloured; tube 3–4 mm. long, with dense hairs forming a ring at the throat; lobes oblong, 2–3 mm. long.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers
- Anthers sessile, inserted at mouth of corolla, exserted.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Ovary subglobose; style long; ovules numerous.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit globose, 5–9 cm. in diameter; rind woody, yellow.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds numerous, rather thick, tetrahedral, about 2 cm. long, embedded in sweet-tasting pulp.
- Habitat
- i>Brachystegia woodland; 900–1350 m.
- Distribution
- T4 T5 T8
Native to:
Angola, Botswana, Caprivi Strip, Congo, Malawi, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Tanzania, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Strychnos pungens Soler. appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 1, 1967 | Marques, S. [13], Angola | K000426784 | holotype | Yes | |
Jan 1, 1967 | Welwitsch [4778b], Angola | K000426785 | Yes | ||
Jan 1, 1967 | Welwitsch [4778], Angola | K000426786 | paratype | Yes | |
Jan 1, 1967 | Yalala, A.M. [171], Botswana | K000489690 | No | ||
Jan 1, 1967 | Fischer [374], Tanzania | K000426677 | lectotype | Yes | |
Jan 1, 1967 | Sapin, A. [s.n.], Congo, DRC | K000426617 | isotype | Yes | |
White, F. [1873], Zambia | 22053.000 | No | |||
Hansen, O.J. [3487], Botswana | K000489691 | No | |||
Smith, P.A. [1351], Botswana | K000489692 | No |
First published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 17: 554 (1893)
Accepted by
- Bruce, E.A. & Lewis, J. (1960). Flora of Tropical East Africa, Loganiaceae: 1-47.
- Exell, A.W. & Wild, H. (eds.) (1960). Flora Zambesiaca 1(1): 1-336. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa an annotated checklist Strelitzia 14: 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Leeuwenberg, A.J.M. & Bamps, P. (1979). Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaire-rwanda-Burundi), Loganiaceae: 1-149. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique.
- Mannheimer, C.A. & Curtis, B.A. (eds.) (2009). Le Roux and Müller's field guide to the trees and shrubs of Namibia, rev. ed.: 1-525. Macmillan Education Namibia, Windhoek.
- Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.
Literature
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Leeuwenberg, A.J.M. & Bamps, P. (1979). Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Zaire-rwanda-Burundi), Loganiaceae: 1-149. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique.
- Mannheimer, C.A. & Curtis, B.A. (eds.) (2009). Le Roux and Müller's field guide to the trees and shrubs of Namibia, rev. ed.: 1-525. Macmillan Education Namibia, Windhoek.
- Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Baker in Flora of Tropical Africa 4 (1): 530 (1903).
- Bruce & Lewis in Kew Bulletin 1956: 268 (1956).
- Duvign. in Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de Belgique 85: 25 (1952).
- Gilg. in Die Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der Nachbargebiete, Theile C: 310 (1895).
- Solered. in A. Engler & K. Prantl, Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 4 (2): 40 (1892).
- Solered. in A. Engler, Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 17: 554 (1893).
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Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
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Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
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Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0