Strychnos madagascariensis

Strychnos madagascariensis Poir.

Common names

Black monkey orange (English)

General description and distinguishing characteristics

Strychnos madagascariensis is a many branched, deciduous shrub or small tree up to 15 m in height but typically 5-6 m tall. Bark light grey, smooth, unarmed but with short lateral shoots. Leaves simple, opposite with distinctive leaf venation of 3-5 nerves arising from the base of the leaf. Leaf 2-10 x 1-6 cm, elliptic to almost circular, glossy dark green above, paler below, leathery, glabrous, margin entire with veins from the leaf base running around the margin in parallel. Petiole 1-5 mm long. Flowers small greenish white, 5-6 mm, produced in 1-4 flowered heads in the axils of the leaves (August-December). Fruit spherical, up to 8-cm in diameter with a thick, woody shell, blue-green ripening to yellow. Fruit contains an orange, edible, slimy pulp enclosing 5-50 seeds (February-November).

Range and habitat

Strychnos madagascariensis occurs throughout the Zambezian region and up the east African coast to Somalia. As its name suggests, it is also found in Madagascar. In the Luangwa Valley it is primarily associated with the levees and sand deposits of major rivers.