Strychnos nux-vomica var. oligosperma Dop; S. spireana Dop.

Trees to 25 m tall. Branchlets slightly pubescent, glabrescent. Petiole 0.5--1.5 cm; leaf blade suborbicular, broadly elliptic, or ovate, 5--18 X 4--12.5 cm, papery, abaxially minutely hairy especially on veins, adaxially glabrous and shiny, base rounded to cordate, apex shortly acuminate to acute and often mucronulate, basal veins 3--5. Thyrses axillary, 3--6 cm; peduncle puberulent; bracteoles pubescent. Flowers 5-merous. Pedicel puberulent. Calyx lobes ovate, outside densely pubescent. Corolla greenish white to white, salverform, ca. 1.3 cm; tube longer than lobes, outside glabrous, inside sparsely villous at base or on lower half; lobes narrowly ovate, ca. 3 mm, margin thickened and puberulent. Stamens inserted at mouth or corolla tube; filaments very short; anthers elliptic, ca. 1.7 mm, apex exserted. Pistil 1--1.2 cm. Ovary ovoid, glabrous. Style to 1.1 cm, glabrous; stigma capitate. Berries orange when ripe, globose, 2--4 cm in diam., glabrous, 1--4-seeded. Seeds orbicular to elliptic, 2--4 cm wide, densely sericeous. Fl. spring to summer.

Medicinal; tools.

Cultivated in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, and S Yunnan [Native in India. Cultivated throughout tropical Asia]