''Strychnos'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s, belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Loganiaceae (sometimes Strychnaceae). The genus includes about 200 accepted

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s and

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s. The genus is widely distributed around the world's tropics and is noted for the presence of poisonous indole alkaloids in the roots, stems and leaves of various species. Among these alkaloids are the well-known and virulent poisons

strychnine Strychnine (, , American English, US chiefly ) is a highly toxicity, toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, ...

and curare.

Etymology

The name ''strychnos'' was applied by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

in his ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

'' to ''

Solanum nigrum ''Solanum nigrum'', the European black nightshade or simply black nightshade or blackberry nightshade, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae, native to Eurasia and introduced in the Americas, Australasia, and South Africa. Ripe ...

''. The word is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

στρύχνον (''strúkhnon'') – "acrid", "bitter". The meaning of the word ''strychnos'' was not fixed in Ancient Greece, where it could designate a variety of different plants having in common the property of toxicity.

Distribution

The genus has a pantropical distribution.

Taxonomy

The genus is divided into 12 sections, though it is conceded that the sections do not reflect evolution of the genus, and all sections except ''Spinosae'' are polyphyletic: * ''Strychnos'' (53 species) * ''Rouhamon'' (21 species) * ''Breviflorae'' (32 species) * ''Penicillatae'' (17 species) * ''Aculeatae'' (1 species) * ''Spinosae'' (4 species) * ''Brevitubae'' (18 species) * ''Lanigerae'' (32 species) * ''Phaeotrichae'' (1 species) * ''Densiflorae'' (8 species) * ''Dolichantae'' (9 species) * ''Schyphostrychnos'' (1 species)

Selected species

*'' Strychnos benthami'' C.B.Clarke *'' Strychnos camptoneura'' Gilg & Busse *'' Strychnos chromatoxylon'' Leeuwenb. *'' Strychnos cocculoides'' Baker *'' Strychnos elaeocarpa'' Gilg ex Leeuwenb. *'' Strychnos icaja'' Baill. *'' Strychnos ignatii'' P.J. Bergius *'' Strychnos madagascariensis'' Poir. *'' Strychnos mellodora'' S.Moore *'' Strychnos millepunctata'' Leeuwenb. *'' Strychnos nux-blanda'' A.W.Hill *'' Strychnos nux-vomica'' L. *'' Strychnos potatorum'' L.f. *'' Strychnos psilosperma'' F.Muell. *'' Strychnos pungens'' Soler. *'' Strychnos spinosa'' Lam. *'' Strychnos staudtii'' Gilg *'' Strychnos tetragona'' A.W.Hill *'' Strychnos toxifera'' R.H.Schomb. ex Lindl. *'' Strychnos usambarensis'' Gilg ex

Engl. Engl or Engl. may refer to: *England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more ...

* The strychnine tree, ''Strychnos nux-vomica'', native to tropical Asia, is the source of the poison

. * ''Strychnos tonga'', native to

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

, is a synonym of ''Strychnos spinosa''. * '' Strychnos ignatii'' ("St. Ignatius bean"), is a closely related Asian shrub/tree. * The species '' Strychnos toxifera'' is a principal plant source of the arrow poison curare. * Three trees from

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

, commonly known as " monkey oranges", are drought-tolerant and produce popular edible fruits: the corky-barked monkey orange or suurklapper, '' Strychnos cocculoides''; the Natal orange or green or spiny monkey orange, '' Strychnos spinosa''; and the black or spiny-leaved monkey orange '' Strychnos pungens''. * The ripe seeds of '' Strychnos potatorum'', known as Therran or Nirmal, can be ground and used as a coagulant to purify water; or they may be rubbed against the inside walls of the earthenware water containers. Mrs Grieve's Herbal of 1931 also mentions traditional water purification uses of an Indian species called ''Strychnos pseudo'' (not a valid botanical name). *Two very well preserved fossilised corollas with

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s and styles from flowers of a plant that has been named ''Strychnos electri'' (the Latin name of amber is ''electrum''), believed to be a vine, were discovered in

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

from the Dominican Republic. The amber is from tropical tree '' Hymenaea protera'', formerly abundant but now extinct, which formed part of the forest canopy. The age of the amber is believed to be between 15 and 45 million years, from the mid-

Tertiary period The Tertiary ( ) is an obsolete Period (geology), geologic period spanning 66 million to 2.6 or 1.8 million years ago. The period began with the extinction of the non-bird, avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at t ...

. This demonstrates an early date for these plants.New species of ancient tropical flower found in amber from the Dominican Republic
Rachel Sullivan, ABC News Online, 16 February 2016, Article number 16005

Gallery

File:Strychnos madagascariensis (4337703118).jpg, '' Strychnos madagascariensis'' File:Strychnos nux-vomica flowers 04.JPG, '' Strychnos nux-vomica'' flowers File:Strychnos potatorum 05.jpg, '' Strychnos potatorum'' File:Strychnos psilosperma foliage and fruit.jpg, '' Strychnos psilosperma'' File:Strychnos pungens, blomme, b, Seringveld.jpg, '' Strychnos pungens'' flowers File:Strychnos pungens, vrug, Little Eden.jpg, '' Strychnos pungens'' detached fruit File:Strychnos spinosa tree.jpg, '' Strychnos spinosa'' tree in fruit File:Strychnos usambarensis00.jpg, '' Strychnos usambarensis'' in flower File:Strychnos usambarensis02.jpg, '' Strychnos usambarensis'' in fruit

References

External links

* {{Authority control Gentianales genera Pantropical flora