About Strychnos pungens Soler.
Strychnos pungens Soler. is a tree in the Loganiaceae family, commonly known as spine-leaved monkey-orange in English and Stekelblaarklapper in Afrikaans. It typically grows to around 5 meters (16 feet) tall. This tree is found in mixed woodland and rocky areas, with a distribution ranging from the Witwatersrand and Magaliesberg in South Africa, northward to northern Namibia, northern Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Its branches are short and rigid. The leaves are smooth, stiff, opposite, elliptic, and end in a sharp, spine-like tip. The fruit is large, reaching 120 mm (4.7 in) in diameter, round, with a smooth hard shell. It is bluish-green when unripe and turns yellow when ripe. The pulp of ripe fruit is rich in citric acid and edible, but the seeds are mildly poisonous. This tree is a close relative of Strychnos nux-vomica, the plant that is the source of strychnine.
