''Strychnos madagascariensis'', the black monkey orange, is an

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 ...

n tropical and sub-tropical tree belonging to the

Loganiaceae The Loganiaceae are a family of flowering plants classified in order Gentianales. The family includes up to 13 genera, distributed around the world's tropics. There are not any great morphological characteristics to distinguish these taxa from ot ...

family. It is a tree with characteristically large fruit but can confused with some other species of the genus.

Vernacular names

It is also known by various other English names. Among southern African languages it is known (among others) as Umkwakwa (North Ndebele), Morapa or Mookwane (Sepedi), Muhwakwa (Shona), umKhwakhwa (Swati), Nkwakwa or Muquaqua (Tsonga), or Mukwakwa (Venda). In West Africa it is known as Nkankoronin (Bambara).

Range

It is native to

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, and further north to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Tropical Africa Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the trop ...

and the western side of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Description

Usually about 6m tall and often multi-stemmed with a spreading, irregular crown, it occurs in open woodland, rocky places, riverine fringes and coastal forest. Bark mostly pale grey with white and dark grey patches, smooth, occasionally powdery. Branches are unarmed though short, rigid lateral shoots may resemble spines. The opposite leaves - often tufted - are smooth to hairy, leathery, elliptic to circular, shiny dark green above and markedly paler below. Flowers are small and greenish-yellow in clusters of 1-4 flowers. Fruit is near-spherical with a thick, woody shell, about 8 cm in diameter and distinctively blue-green in colour when young, turning yellow when mature. The tightly-packed poisonous seeds are covered in an orange, fleshy, edible pulp rich in

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in t ...

and iridoids - the pulp is relished by humans and baboons. Iridoids are primarily a defense against herbivory and pathogens, and are characterized by a bitter taste.

Uses

The tree is a close relative of ''

Strychnos nux-vomica ''Strychnos nux-vomica'', the strychnine tree, also known as nux vomica, poison fruit, semen strychnos, and quaker buttons, is a deciduous tree native to India and to southeast Asia. It is a medium-sized tree in the family Loganiaceae that grow ...

'', the seed of which is a source of

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

. Fishing with poisonous plants used to be a common practice in Africa, and though outlawed is still employed in remote areas. As with other species of ''Strychnos'' the seeds are pulverised and thrown into a pool or dammed sections of a stream, affected fish soon rising to the surface, while subsequent cooking breaks down the poison. Oils extracted from the inner skin of the fruit have a high

oleic acid Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega ...

content.

Synonyms

*''Strychnos baronii'' Baker *''Strychnos behrensiana'' Gilg & Busse *''Strychnos burtonii'' Baker *''Strychnos dysophylla'' Benth. *''Strychnos dysophylla'' subsp. ''engleri'' (Gilg) E.A. Bruce & Lewis *''Strychnos engleri'' Gilg *''Strychnos gerrardii'' N.E. Br. *''Strychnos innocua'' subsp. ''burtonii'' (Baker) E.A. Bruce & J. Lewis *''Strychnos innocua'' subsp. ''dysophylla'' (Benth.) I. Verd. *''Strychnos innocua'' subsp. ''gerrardii'' (N.E. Br.) I. Verd. *''Strychnos leiocarpa'' Gilg & Busse *''Strychnos melonicarpa'' Gilg & Busse *''Strychnos mocquerysii'' Aug. DC. *''Strychnos pachphylla'' Gilg & Busse *''Strychnos polyphylla'' Gilg & Busse *''Strychnos quaqua'' Gilg *''Strychnos randiaeformis'' Baill. *''Strychnos stenoneura'' Gilg & Busse *''Strychnos unguacha'' var. ''dysophylla'' (Benth.) Gilg *''Strychnos unguacha'' var. ''micrantha'' Gilg *''Strychnos vacacoua'' Baill. *''Strychnos wakefieldii'' Baker

References

External links

Gallery of imagesGallery of images
{{Taxonbar, from=Q13034408 Fruits originating in Africa Trees of Africa Trees of Madagascar madagascariensis