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Voacanga africana
Voacanga africana is a small tree from tropical Africa, growing up to about 6 m tall with large glossy leaves and white or yellow flowers followed by yellow-pulped fruit. It is grown as an ornamental and for its alkaloids, and is best kept in bright, warm conditions.
Voacanga africana is a small tree native to tropical Africa belonging to the family Apocynaceae that grows to 6 m (20 ft) in height and bears leaves that are up to 30 cm (12 in) in length. The yellow or white flowers are succeeded by paired, follicular, dehiscent fruit with a mottled green exocarp and a pulpy, yellow mesocarp surrounding the seeds. The plant contains alkaloids acting as CNS depressants and hypotensives.
The plant contains a large number of alkaloids related to the anti-addiction medication ibogaine, including some of the only known naturally occurring CB1 receptor antagonists. One of the plant's alkaloids, voacangine, has been used as a precursor in the semi-synthesis of ibogaine. Voacamidine and voacamine cleavage can be used to increase voacangine yield. While small amounts of ibogaine are found in Voacanga africana root bark, they do not occur in sufficient quantity to have medicinal or psychoactive effects. Extracts from the plant are also used in the production of vinpocetine, a medication used to treat Alzheimer's disease, and vinblastine, used to treat leukemia.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Voacanga africana 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.
