Tail Less Strophanthus

Usually a true liana without tendrils, occasionally a scrambling shrub. Stems and branches often with triangular corky knobs; latex white. Leaves opposite, elliptic or ovate, up to 13.5 × 6.5 cm, dark green above much paler below with 3-8 pairs of lateral veins, hairless. Flowers normally appearing after the leaves, 1-3 per inflorescence. Corolla white and red, streaked with purple; lobes ovate, tapering to a point but without long linear tails. Fruit in 2 widely diverging follicles, sometimes at an angle of more than 180°, each 12-26 cm long, 3-4.5 cm wide, dark grey to purple-black, hairless, covered in lenticels.

Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Strophanthus courmontii grows as a deciduous liana up to 22 metres (72 ft) long or as a shrub up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall, with a stem diameter up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in). Its fragrant flowers feature a white turning red and purple corolla tube, yellow with purple streaks inside. Habitats are forests and riverine thickets, from sea level to 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) altitude. S. courmontii is used in local medicinal treatments for rheumatism and as an aphrodisiac. The plant is native to Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.