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Smodingium argutum
Also called Painbush, Tovana, Tovane
Agony bush (Smodingium argutum) is a southern African shrub or small tree, variable from a low woody shrub to about 6 m, related to the cashew family and resembling Rhus species. It is grown mainly as a garden or landscape plant where it is hardy, and its sap is the key hazard to handle with care.
Smodingium argutum, the African poison ivy or pain bush, is a southern African shrub or medium-sized tree in the Anacardiaceae, which has properties comparable to the American poison ivy, as its sap contains heptadecyl catechols that are toxic to the skin.
An immuno-chemical reaction is suspected as in other toxic anacardiaceous species. It is monotypic in the genus Smodingium, and was discovered in Pondoland by J. F. Drège during an 1832 expedition with the zoologist Andrew Smith.
It occurs along the Mpumalanga escarpment, the uplands of Eswatini, the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, Pondoland and Transkei, southern Lesotho and the southern Free State.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Smodingium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
