Strychnos spinosa Loganiaceae Lam.

Strychnos spinosa 

LOCAL NAMES 

Afrikaans (groenklapper); Bemba (kaminu,sansa,musayi); English (kaffir 

orange,spiny monkey orange,spiny monkey ball,Natal orange,elephant 

orange,monkey ball,monkey orange); French (oranger de brousse); Lozi 

(mukolo,mwimbili); Lunda (mubila,katonga,munkulunkulu,mwijimbe); 

Ndebele (umhlali); Nyanja (maye,mzai,mzimbili,temya); Shona 

(mutamba); Swahili (mtonga,mpapa); Tigrigna (lokua,gura); Tongan 

(muteme,muwi,muono) 

BOTANIC DESCRIPTION 

Strychnos spinosa is a thorny shrub or small tree 1-9 m in height. Bark 

grey, rough, tends to flake in rectangular segments but is not deeply 

fissured or corky; branchlets rather pale and thin, with or without short 

hairs, with hooked thorns; slash yellowish with green margin. 

Leaves elliptic, ovate to almost circular, 1.5-9 x 1.2-7.5 cm, light to dark 

green and glossy at the base; veins pale green and curving along the 

margin; apex tapering to rounded, sometimes notched; base tapering, 

rounded or slightly lobed; margin entire, inclined to be wavy; petiole 2-10 

mm long. 

Flowers creamy green, up to 6 mm long, in compact heads about 3.5-4 

cm, terminal on short lateral twigs, densely crowded together on short 

stalks about 10 mm long. 

Fruit spherical, woody shelled, 5-12 cm in diameter, deep yellow to yellowbrown 

when mature, contains many flat seeds. 

‘Strychnos’, meaning ‘deadly’, is an ancient Greek name that was given to 

a certain poisonous member of the Solanaceae family. Linnaeus, who 

founded the genus Strychnos on the Indian species which yields 

strychnine, S. nux-vomica, possibly associated the deadly qualities of both 

groups when he named the genus. The specific name ‘spinosa’ is Latin for 

spiny. 

Agroforestry Database 4.0 (Orwa et al.2009) 

Lam. 

Loganiaceae 

Strychnos spinosa fruits (Patrick Maundu) 

Strychnos spinosa slash (Joris de Wolf, 

Patrick Van Damme, Diego Van 

Meersschaut) 

Strychnos spinosa foliage (Joris de Wolf, 

Patrick Van Damme, Diego Van 

Meersschaut) 

Page 1 of 5




ECOLOGY 

Occurs in savannah forests all over tropical Africa and grows in open woodland and riverine fringes. 

BIOPHYSICAL LIMITS 

Altitude: 0-1500 m 

Soil type: S. spinosa occurs on sandy soils along river banks. 

DOCUMENTED SPECIES DISTRIBUTION 

Native: 

Exotic: 

Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia 

South Africa, US 

Native range 

Exotic range 

The map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does neither 

suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological zone within that country, 

nor that the species can not be planted in other countries than those depicted. Since 

some tree species are invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to 

your planting site. 


Page 2 of 5


The map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does neither 

suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological zone within that country, 

nor that the species can not be planted in other countries than those depicted. Since 


some tree species are invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to 

your planting site. 


PRODUCTS 

Food: The sweet-sour fruit pulp is edible but the seeds and unripe fruit are toxic; leaves are also eaten. 

Fodder: Leaves of S. spinosa are browsed by livestock. 

Fuel: S. spinosa provides firewood and charcoal. 

Timber: The straight-grained wood planes well and is used in furniture making. 

Poison: A mixture of ground roots of S. spinosa and oil is applied to the skin as a fly repellent. 

Medicine: Juice from the fruit and roots is dropped into the ears as a remedy for earache; the roots, leaves and bark 

are used in the treatment of disorders of the male organs. A decoction of the roots is taken orally for colds or is drunk 

with milk to cure dropsy. Roots or green fruits are used by the Zulu of South Africa as an antidote for snakebite. The 

roots alone provide an emetic and also a remedy for fever and inflamed eyes. An analgesic is made from a decoction of 

the leaves. Jigger fleas are removed from the feet after applying a paste in which the grated root is mixed with oil. 

Other products: Sound boxes for musical instruments known as ‘mbira’ are sometimes made from the shells of dried 

fruit. 

SERVICES 

Other services: Parts of the tree are believed to have magical uses ranging from being worn as a hunting charm to 

extraction of ‘bullets’ from a magic gun. 


Page 3 of 5


TREE MANAGEMENT 

S. spinosa roots are pruned to produce root suckers. 



GERMPLASM MANAGEMENT 

Seed storage behaviour is orthodox; long-term storage. There are about 1800 seeds/kg. 


Page 4 of 5


FURTHER READNG 

Beentje HJ. 1994. Kenya trees, shrubs and lianas. National Museums of Kenya. 



Bekele-Tesemma A, Birnie A, Tengnas B. 1993. Useful trees and shrubs for Ethiopia. Regional Soil Conservation Unit 

(RSCU), Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). 

Coates-Palgrave K. 1988. Trees of southern Africa. C.S. Struik Publishers Cape Town. 

Dale IR, Greenway PJ. 1961. Kenya trees and shrubs. Buchanan’s Kenya Estates Ltd. 

Drummond BR. 1981. Common trees of the Central Watershed Woodlands of Zimbabwe. National Resources Board. 

Eggeling. 1940. Indigenous trees of Uganda. Govt. of Uganda. 

Hines DA, Eckman K. 1993. Indigenous multipurpose trees for Tanzania: uses and economic benefits to the people. 

Cultural survival Canada and Development Services Foundation of Tanzania. 

Hong TD, Linington S, Ellis RH. 1996. Seed storage behaviour: a compendium. Handbooks for Genebanks: No. 4. 

IPGRI. 

ICRAF. 1992. A selection of useful trees and shrubs for Kenya: Notes on their identification, propagation and 

management for use by farming and pastoral communities. ICRAF. 

Katende AB et al. 1995. Useful trees and shrubs for Uganda. Identification, Propagation and Management for 

Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Swedish International Development 

Authority (SIDA). 

Kokwaro JO. 1976. Medicinal plants of East Africa. East African Literature Bureau. 

Matasyoh LG. 2000. Variation in fruit, seed and germination characteristics of provenances of Strychnos spinosa Lam. 

Subsp. Lokua in Malawi. Zomba Malawi: University of Malawi. 159p. 

Mbuya LP et al. 1994. Useful trees and shrubs for Tanzania: Identification, Propagation and Management for 

Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Swedish International Development 

Authority (SIDA). 

Storrs AEG. 1995. Know your trees: some common trees found in Zambia. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU). 

von Maydell HJ. 1986. Trees and shrubs of the Sahel - their characteristics and uses. GTZ 6MBH, Eschborn. 

SUGGESTED CITATION 

Orwa C, Mutua A , Kindt R , Jamnadass R, Simons A. 2009. Agroforestree Database:a tree reference and selection guide 

version 4.0 (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/af/treedb/) 


Page 5 of 5

Strychnos spinosa Loganiaceae Lam.

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?