| Poison-Fruit Vine |
|
 |
|
 |
 ative |
 |
 |
 |
Photo: |
Botanical name: Strychnos wallichiana Family: Loganiaceae (Logania family)
Synonyms: Strychnos cinnamomifolia, Strychnos lucida, Strychnos tubiflora
Synonyms: Strychnos cinnamomifolia, Strychnos lucida, Strychnos tubiflora
Poison-Fruit Vine is a woody climber up to 20 m long.
Stems are grayish white, rugose; branchlets round, smooth, usually with
2-divided tendrils in leaf-axils. Leaf-stalks are 5-7 mm; leaves
elliptic, 5-17 x 3-5 cm, basal veins 3. Flowers are borne inthyrses at
branch-ends, 4-5 cm, carried on velvet-hairy flower-cluster-stalks.
Flowers are yellowish to yellow-white, pinwheel-shaped. about 1.4 cm,
tube about 1.1 cm, petals oblong, about 4 mm, tip slightly thickened.
Stamens are inserted at flower mouth, pistil about 8 mm. Sepals are
ovate, 1-1.3 mm. Berries are yellow to orange when ripe, spherical, 4-6
cm in diameter, pericarp to 2-3 mm thick; many-seeded. Poison-Fruit
Vine is found in NE India, China, SE Asia and Western Ghats. Flowering:
April-June.
Medicinal uses:
Although toxic, the plant is
taken internally as well as externally in traditional medicine.
However, internal use needs to be very carefully monitored by skilled
practitioners. The stem-bark and branch-bark are effective in treating
rheumatism, ostealgia, paralytic cramp of the extremities, lumbago,
sciatica, colic and diarrhoea. The bark is used internally as an
aphrodisiac; it is also said to be very efficacious in the treatment of
leprosy and is used as an antidote for rabies.
Medicinal uses:
Although toxic, the plant is
taken internally as well as externally in traditional medicine.
However, internal use needs to be very carefully monitored by skilled
practitioners. The stem-bark and branch-bark are effective in treating
rheumatism, ostealgia, paralytic cramp of the extremities, lumbago,
sciatica, colic and diarrhoea. The bark is used internally as an
aphrodisiac; it is also said to be very efficacious in the treatment of
leprosy and is used as an antidote for rabies. | Identification credit: Vijayasankar Raman, I. Veera Kishore | Photographed in Aralam WLS, Kerala & Seshachalam, Andhra Pradesh. |
• Is this flower misidentified? If yes,