About Strychnos usambarensis Gilg ex Engl.
Strychnos usambarensis Gilg ex Engl. can grow as a shrub, small tree up to 15 meters tall, or a 70-meter long liane. It is native to Sub-Saharan Africa, where it grows in forest, woodland, mountain ravines, and coastal bush, often on rocky slopes. It is named for the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. Its distribution ranges from Guinea east to Nigeria, from Congo east to Kenya, and extends south to the kloofs of the Magaliesberg in South Africa. Bantu tribes from Rwanda and Tanzania make arrow poison from the root bark and leaves of this species, sometimes combining the material with extracts from other plants. This species has opposite leaves held in a horizontal plane, shaped ovate to elliptic with a characteristic drip-tip, and glossy dark green on the upper surface. Its flowers are small, fragrant, borne in axillary clusters, and colored whitish to yellowish-green. Its fruits are small and soft-shelled, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, yellow when ripe, and taper to a collar at the peduncle. The genus Strychnos contains around 300 species of lianes, shrubs, and small trees, with species fairly evenly distributed across Asia, America, and Africa.
