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Strychnos pungens
Also called Klapper Apple, Spine Leaved Monkey Orange, Spiny Monkey Orange, Spiny Leaved Wild Orange, Spinyleaf Wild Orange, Monkey Orange
Strychnos pungens is a small spiny tree, usually about 5 m tall, native to mixed woodland and rocky ground in southern and central Africa. It is grown mainly for its large, edible fruit, and its seeds are mildly poisonous.
Strychnos pungens (English: spine-leaved monkey-orange, Afrikaans: Stekelblaarklapper) is a tree which belongs to the Loganiaceae. Usually about 5 m (16 ft) tall, occurring in mixed woodland or in rocky places. Branches are short and rigid. Leaves are smooth, stiff, opposite, elliptic and with a sharp, spine-like tip. Occurring in South Africa on the Witwatersrand, Magaliesberg and further north to northern Namibia, northern Botswana and Zimbabwe.
The fruit is large (120 mm (4.7 in) diameter), round and with a smooth hard shell, bluish-green in colour and turning yellow when ripe. The pulp of ripe fruit is rich in citric acid and is edible, but the seeds are mildly poisonous. The tree is a close relative of Strychnos nux-vomica, the source of strychnine.
Strychnos icaja · St. Ignatius bean · Strychnine tree · Strychnine Tree · Natal orange · Strychnine
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Strychnos pungens 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.
