Forest poison rope | |
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Strophanthus speciosus [1] | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Gentianales |
Family: | Apocynaceae |
Genus: | Strophanthus |
Species: | S. speciosus |
Binomial name | |
Strophanthus speciosus | |
Synonyms [3] | |
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Strophanthus speciosus, commonly known as the forest poison rope, is a tree, shrub or woody climber which is native to southern Africa. [4]
Strophanthus speciosus grows as a tree or shrub up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall, and as a liana up to 16 metres (52 ft) long, with a stem diameter up to 3 centimetres (1.2 in). Its flowers feature a white turning orange corolla, red-streaked on the inside. [5]
Strophanthus speciosus is native to Zimbabwe, South Africa and Eswatini. [2] [5] It occurs in forests and their margins from 300–1,400 metres (1,000–5,000 ft) altitude. [5]
Local medicinal uses of S. speciosus include snakebite treatment. The plant has also been used as arrow poison. [5] As with other species of Strophanthus it contains the cardiac glycoside strophanthin - plants of allied genera contain similar compounds.