''Strophanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1802. It is native primarily to tropical Africa, extending to South Africa, with a few species in Asia from southern India to New Guinea and southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The genus name is a compound of the Greek words στροφος (''strophos'') "twisted" and ανθοσ (''anthos'') "flower", in reference to the

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

lobes which, in some species - notably ''S. petersianus'' (see below) - resemble long twisted ribbons or threads and can reach a length of 30–35 cm. This trait, in addition to colouring involving combinations of bright pinks, purples and oranges, combine to make the flowers among the most ornamental in the plant kingdom. The genus includes vines,

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s, and small trees. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are opposite or whorled, simple broad lanceolate, 2–20 cm long, with an entire margin. Several African tribes used ''Strophanthus'' as the principal ingredient in arrow poison. After dipping the arrows of their hunting weapons into a strong concentration of the ingredient, the effect was to stun their prey. Plants from this genus produce toxic alkaloids and cardiac glycosides g- strophanthin (syn.

ouabain Ouabain or (from Somali ''waabaayo'', "arrow poison" through French ''ouabaïo'') also known as g-strophanthin, is a plant derived toxic substance that was traditionally used as an arrow poison in eastern Africa for both hunting and warfare. ...

), k- strophanthin, and e- strophanthin. As ordinarily administered, the drug acts on the heart before influencing any other organ or tissue. Indeed, often no other effect may be observed. Some of the chemicals in the plants are used to produce the drug

, which was taken as a cardiac stimulant to treat

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

and sometimes g-strophanthin is advocated as an alternative treatment to more contemporary practices. The effect is similar to that of the drug

digoxin Digoxin (better known as Digitalis), sold under the brand name Lanoxin among others, is a medication used to treat various heart conditions. Most frequently it is used for atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and heart failure. Digoxin is on ...

, which is produced from '' Digitalis purpurea''.

Gallery

Flowers

File:Strophanthus amboensis 1DS-II 3-1571.jpg, ''

Strophanthus amboensis ''Strophanthus amboensis'' is a plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae. Description ''Strophanthus amboensis'' grows as a deciduous shrub up to tall, or as a liana up to long, with a stem diameter up to . Its flowers feature an orange-yello ...

'' File:Corckscrew Tree.jpg, ''

Strophanthus boivinii ''Strophanthus boivinii'', the wood shaving flower, is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae. The Latin specific epithet of ''boivinii'' refers to French explorer and plant collector Louis Hyacinthe Boivin (1808-1852). Description ''S ...

'' File:Strophanthus dichotomus Decne.; flowering branch with separa Wellcome V0042705.jpg , ''

Strophanthus caudatus ''Strophanthus caudatus'' is a woody liana that can grow up to in length, with a trunk diameter of up to . It grows natively from Guangxi in southern China, through Indochina (including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) to Malesia and New Guinea ...

'' (coloured plate) File:Strophanthus divaricatus2.jpg, '' Strophanthus divaricatus'' File:Strophanthus gratus 16.jpg, ''

Strophanthus gratus ''Strophanthus gratus'' is a plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae. Description ''Strophanthus gratus'' is a woody liana that can grow up to , with a trunk diameter of up to . Its fragrant flowers feature a white corolla, topped by red or pur ...

'' File:Strophanthus hispidus - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-131.jpg, '' Strophanthus hispidus'' (coloured plate) File:Strophanthus kombe00.jpg, '' Strophanthus kombe'' (botanical drawing) File:Strophanthus petersianus 1DS-II 3-2770.jpg, ''

Strophanthus petersianus ''Strophanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1802. It is native primarily to tropical Africa, extending to South Africa, with a few species in Asia from southern India to New Guinea and ...

'' File:Strophanthus preussii (25433002894).jpg, ''

Strophanthus preussii ''Strophanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1802. It is native primarily to tropical Africa, extending to South Africa, with a few species in Asia from southern India to New Guinea and ...

'' File:Strophanthus sarmentosus 0002.jpg, ''

Strophanthus sarmentosus ''Strophanthus sarmentosus'' grows as either a deciduous shrub or as a liana up to long, with a stem diameter up to . Its fragrant flowers feature a white to purple corolla, red or purple-streaked on the inside. ''Strophanthus sarmentosus'' is ...

'' File:Strophanthus speciosus 1DS-II 6026.jpg, ''

Strophanthus speciosus ''Strophanthus speciosus'', commonly known as the forest poison rope, is a tree, shrub or woody climber which is native to southern Africa. Description ''Strophanthus speciosus'' grows as a tree or shrub up to tall, and as a liana up to long, ...

'' ;Species ;formerly included in genus * ''Strophanthus aambe =

Papuechites aambe ''Papuechites'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1925. It contains only one known species, ''Papuechites aambe'', native to New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Ind ...

'' * ''Strophanthus balansae =

Anodendron paniculatum ''Anodendron'' is a genus of plant in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1844. It is native to most of tropical Asia: China, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and some islands of the western Pacific Islands, P ...

'' * ''Strophanthus jackianus =

Wrightia dubia ''Wrightia dubia''Sprengel CPJ (1824) In: ''Systema vegetabilium'' 1: 638 is a species of shrub-plant in the family Apocynaceae. Its distribution includes: Indo-China and peninsular Malaysia (Kedah, Penang, Pahan); no subspecies are listed in th ...

References

External links

Apocynaceae genera Poisonous plants {{Apocynaceae-stub