Strophanthus caudatus (L.) Kurz

Lianas woody, to 12 m, glabrous except for flowers, latex clear or white. Trunk to 1.5 cm in diam.; branches dark brown, lenticellate. Petiole 3-13 mm; leaf blade elliptic, obovate, or ovate, 5-24 X 2.5-11 cm, leathery or papery; lateral veins 5-13 pairs. Cymes 5-15 cm, 5-25-flowered; bracts 2, linear, 2-12 mm, deciduous. Pedicel 7-11 mm. Sepals ovate or narrowly triangular, 0.3-1.9 cm, glabrous. Corolla white, turning yellow then red, red or purple streaked inside, glabrous or only distal part puberulent, tube 1.2-2.6 cm; lobes broadly ovate, abruptly narrowed to tail, 4.3-25.5 cm, tail pendulous, 1.5-3.2 mm wide; corona lobes tongue- or awl-shaped, 3-10 mm. Stamens puberulent, connective exserted. Ovary glabrous or puberulent. Style 0.9-1.5 cm. Follicles oblong, 10-30 X 3-4.8 cm, divergent at 150-200°. Seeds 1-2.5 cm, beak 2.3-4.6 cm, coma 5-9 cm. Fl. Apr-Jun. 2n = 20.

S Guangxi, cultivated in Taiwan [Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam].

500-900 m.

Echites caudata Linnaeus, Mant. Pl. 52. 1767; Nerium caudatum (Linnaeus) Lamarck.

Strophanthus caudatus is a woody liana that can grow up to 12 metres (40 ft) in length, with a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 centimetres (0.6 in). It grows natively from Guangxi in southern China, through Indochina (including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) to Malesia and New Guinea.