Taxon:  Strychnos spinosa Lam.



Summary
Genus:
Strychnos
Family:
Loganiaceae
Nomen number:
35855
Place of publication:
Tabl. encycl. 2:38.  1794
Verified:
09/14/1998 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
10 (1  active, 1  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Strychnos gilletii De Wild.
Strychnos tonga Gilg

No images


Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
  2. Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
  3. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  4. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
  5. Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
  6. Jardin botanique national de Belgique. 1967-. Flore du Congo, du Rwanda et du Burundi (Flore d'Afrique centrale).
  7. Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
  8. Omotayo, A. O. & A. O. Aremu. 2021. Undervalued spiny monkey orange (Strychnos spinosa Lam.): An indigenous fruit for sustainable food-nutrition and economic prosperity. Plants. OAJ. 10:2785. DOI: 10.3390/plants10122785.
  9. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  10. Sitrit, Y. et al. 2003. Characterization of monkey orange (Strychnos spinosa Lam.), a potential new crop for arid regions. J. Agric. Food Chem. 51:6256-6260.
  11. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
  12. Verdcourt, B. & E. C. Trump. 1969. Common poisonous plants of East Africa.
Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
EnglishKaffir-orange but this adjective is best avoided, as it is a derogatory term1Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Englishmonkey-orange  1Sitrit, Y. et al. 2003. Characterization of monkey orange (Strychnos spinosa Lam.), a potential new crop for arid regions. J. Agric. Food Chem. 51:6256-6260.
EnglishNatal-orange  1Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Englishspiny monkey-orange  1Omotayo, A. O. & A. O. Aremu. 2021. Undervalued spiny monkey orange (Strychnos spinosa Lam.): An indigenous fruit for sustainable food-nutrition and economic prosperity. Plants. OAJ. 10:2785. DOI: 10.3390/plants10122785.
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaChad   
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEthiopia   
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSomalia   
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSudan   
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaAngola   
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMozambique  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZambia  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZimbabwe  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaBotswana  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaEswatini  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaNamibia  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaCape Provincee.Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaKwaZulu-Natal Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaTransvaal Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaBenin   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaBurkina Faso   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaCôte D'Ivoire   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGambia   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGhana   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGuinea   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGuinea-Bissau   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaMali   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNiger   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNigeria   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSenegal   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSierra Leone   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaTogo   
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaBurundi  Jardin botanique national de Belgique. 1967-. Flore du Congo, du Rwanda et du Burundi (Flore d'Afrique centrale).
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon   
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCentral African Republic   
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaDemocratic Republic of the Congo  Jardin botanique national de Belgique. 1967-. Flore du Congo, du Rwanda et du Burundi (Flore d'Afrique centrale).
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaRwanda  Jardin botanique national de Belgique. 1967-. Flore du Congo, du Rwanda et du Burundi (Flore d'Afrique centrale).
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar   
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMauritius   
2Cultivated    also cult. 
Native
Africa
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Chad
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa [Cape Province (e.), KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal]
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar, Mauritius
Cultivated (also cult.)

Reference(s)
  1. Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
  2. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
  3. Jardin botanique national de Belgique. 1967-. Flore du Congo, du Rwanda et du Burundi (Flore d'Afrique centrale).
  4. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Environmentalornamental Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Human foodfruitpotentialSitrit, Y. et al. 2003. Characterization of monkey orange (Strychnos spinosa Lam.), a potential new crop for arid regions. J. Agric. Food Chem. 51:6256-6260.
Human foodfruitpotentialOmotayo, A. O. & A. O. Aremu. 2021. Undervalued spiny monkey orange (Strychnos spinosa Lam.): An indigenous fruit for sustainable food-nutrition and economic prosperity. Plants. OAJ. 10:2785. DOI: 10.3390/plants10122785.
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Verdcourt, B. & E. C. Trump. 1969. Common poisonous plants of East Africa.
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=35855. Accessed 15 April 2026.