''Strophanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...

, first described as a genus in 1802. It is native primarily to tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, extending to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, with a few species in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

from southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

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 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

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

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

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s. 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 Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

. 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

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s and

cardiac glycoside Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions by inhibiting the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Their beneficial medical uses are as treatments for co ...

s g-

strophanthin Strophanthins are cardiac glycosides in plants of the genus ''Strophanthus''. The singular may refer to: * g-Strophanthin, also known as ouabain * k-Strophanthin It is commonly used in euthanasia (lethal injections) See also * Cardenolide A car ...

(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-

, and e-

. 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 ''Digitalis purpurea'', the foxglove or common foxglove, is a poisonous species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe. It has also naturalised in parts of North Am ...

''.

Gallery

Flowers

File:Strophanthus amboensis 1DS-II 3-1571.jpg, '' Strophanthus amboensis'' File:Corckscrew Tree.jpg, '' Strophanthus boivinii'' File:Strophanthus dichotomus Decne.; flowering branch with separa Wellcome V0042705.jpg , '' Strophanthus caudatus'' (coloured plate) File:Strophanthus divaricatus2.jpg, ''

Strophanthus divaricatus ''Strophanthus divaricatus'' is a liana or sarmentose shrub that can grow up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . ''Divaricatus'' is from the Latin meaning "spreading at a wide angle". The plant has been used medicinally: as a heart stim ...

'' 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 ''Strophanthus hispidus'', the hispid strophanthus, (family: Apocynaceae) is a liana or shrub that can grow up to tall. Its flowers feature a yellow corolla and yellow corona lobes spotted with red, purple or brown. The seeds, like those of sev ...

'' (coloured plate) File:Strophanthus kombe00.jpg, ''

Strophanthus kombe ''Strophanthus kombe'', the kombe arrow poison, is a vine that grows in the tropical regions of Eastern Africa, and is part of the genus ''Strophanthus'', which contains approximately 38 species. ''S. kombe'' contains a cardiac glycoside which d ...

'' (botanical drawing) File:Strophanthus petersianus 1DS-II 3-2770.jpg, '' Strophanthus petersianus'' File:Strophanthus preussii (25433002894).jpg, '' Strophanthus preussii'' File:Strophanthus sarmentosus 0002.jpg, '' Strophanthus sarmentosus'' 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'' * ''Strophanthus balansae = Anodendron paniculatum'' * ''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