Strychnos is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to family Loganiaceae (sometimes Strychnaceae). The genus includes about 100 accepted species of trees and lianas, and more than 200 that are as yet unresolved. The genus is widely distributed around the world’s tropics. The genus is noted for the presence of poisonous indole alkaloids in the roots, stems and leaves of the plant. Among the alkaloids are strychnine and curare.

Strychnos spinosa is a tree indigenous to tropical and subtropical Africa. It produces juicy, sweet-sour, yellow fruits, containing numerous hard brown seeds. Greenish-white flowers grow in dense heads at the ends of branches (Sep-Feb/Spring – summer). The fruit tend to appear only after good rains. The smooth, hard fruit are large and green, ripen to yellow colour. Inside the fruit are tightly packed seeds surrounded by a fleshy, edible covering. Animals such as baboon, monkeys, bushpig, nyala and eland eat the fruit. The leaves are a popular food source for browsers such as duiker, kudu, impala, steenbok, nyala and elephant. It is believed that various insects pollinate the flowers. Common names : Spiny Monkey-orange/Green Monkey Orange (English) Doringklapper (Afrikaans) Morapa (NS) umKwakwa (Swaziland) Nsala (Tswana) Mutamba (Shona) This tree can be found growing singly in well-drained soils. It is found in bushveld, riverine fringes, sand forest and coastal bush from the Eastern Cape, to Kwazulu-Natal, Mozambique and inland to Swaziland, Zimbabwe, northern Botswana and northern Namibia, north to tropical Africa. A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known fruit has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, and foster rural development and support sustainable land care. The wood can be used for general carpentry. Timber from this tree is also used to produce implement handles, fighting sticks and hut poles. It is also used for carving. The species has recently been introduced into Israel as a potential new commercial crop. The fruit may be used as a supplementary source of food by rural people during times of shortage.