Natal Orange

( Kasongole or monkey orange )

  • Strychnos spinosa
  • IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
  • Tree Type: Deciduous
  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Clade 1: Tracheophytes
  • Clade 2: Angiosperms
  • Clade 3: Eudicots
  • Clade 4: Asterids
  • Order: Gentianales
  • Family: Loganiaceae
  • Genus: Strychnos
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General Information

Strychnos spinosa, the Natal orange, is a tree indigenous to Zambia and subtropical Africa. It produces 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 fruits tend to appear only after good rains.

Fun Facts!

Description

A smooth, hard fruit that is large and green, ripens to yellow colour. Inside the fruit are tightly packed seeds, which may be toxic, surrounded by a fleshy, brown, edible covering.

Uses

The plant, taken alone or in conjunction with extracts of other plants, is used for snakebites, venereal disease, increasing the flow of breastmilk in lactating mothers, and enhancing physical strength.

Cultivation

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 and thus these animals aid in its cultivation.

Toxicity and Allergies

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