Strychnos nitida G. Don

Fruit medicinal; seeds poisonous.

Lianas to 7 m. Branchlets terete to sometimes subangular, pubescent, glabrescent, with axillary double tendrils. Petiole 5--7 mm, adaxially ciliate; leaf blade oblong to elliptic, 8--14 X 3--6 cm, abaxially pubescent or glabrous, adaxially dark green, glabrous, and shiny, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, apex obtuse to acute, basal veins 3, reticulate veins present. Thyrses terminal, 4--8 cm; peduncle pubescent. Flowers 5-merous. Pedicel 2--3 mm, pubescent. Calyx lobes broadly ovate, ca. 1 mm, outside puberulent, margin membranous and ciliate, apex rounded. Corolla greenish, salverform, 1.4--1.5 cm, outside glabrous or glabrescent; tube ca. 1.2 cm, villous at mouth; lobes narrowly oblong, ca. 2.5 X 1.5 mm, inside usually papillose. Stamens inserted at corolla mouth; filaments shorter than anthers; anthers oblong, ca. 1 mm, glabrous, base 2-cleft, apex rounded. Ovary ovoid, 3 mm, glabrous. Style 1.2 cm, villous; stigma slightly concave. Berries globose, 3--5 cm in diam., smooth; epicarp woody, thick; usually 3-seeded. Seeds ovoid to suborbicular, flat, 2--3 X 1.8--2 cm, puberulent. Fl. Mar-Jul.

Guangxi, S and SW Yunnan [Bangladesh, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam].

Forests in mountains, scrub; 200--1800 m.

Strychnos cheliensis Hu; S. kerrii A. W. Hill; S. wallichiana Steudel ex A. de Candolle var. intermedia A. W. Hill; S. wallichiana var. ovata A. W. Hill; S. yunnanensis S. Y. Pao.