Strychnos spinosaLam.

Natal orange

WFO wfo-0000502889 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Strychnos spinosa, photographed by Ryan Donnelly
fig. a Ryan Donnelly, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-18 / obs. 198953453
Strychnos spinosa, photographed by Philani Hadebe
fig. b Philani Hadebe, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 170290894
Strychnos spinosa, photographed by Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan
fig. c Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 154616910
Strychnos spinosa, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. d Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 139978112
Strychnos spinosa, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. e Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 115886348
Strychnos spinosa, photographed by Benjamin Fredlund
fig. f Benjamin Fredlund, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 107237601
Strychnos spinosa, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. g Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 88192628
Strychnos spinosa, photographed by Shaun Swanepoel
fig. h Shaun Swanepoel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 63928043

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 40 botanical countries

Regions where Strychnos spinosa is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEswatiniEthiopiaGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMalawiMaliMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabwe Comoros
Native distribution of Strychnos spinosa, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Comoros COM
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 38 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Brehmia spinosa (Lam.) Harv.
  • Strychnos buettneri Gilg
  • Strychnos cardiophylla Gilg & Busse
  • Strychnos carvalhoi Gilg
  • Strychnos courtetii A.Chev.
  • Strychnos cuneifolia Gilg & Busse
  • Strychnos djalonis A.Chev.
  • Strychnos dulcis A.Chev.
  • Strychnos emarginata Baker
  • Strychnos euryphylla Gilg & Busse
  • Strychnos flacurtii Desv. ex Thouars
  • Strychnos gilletii De Wild.
  • Strychnos gracillima Gilg
  • Strychnos gracillima var. paucispinosa De Wild.
  • Strychnos harmsii Gilg & Busse
  • Strychnos laxa Soler.
  • Strychnos leiosepala Gilg & Busse
  • Strychnos lokua A.Rich.
  • Strychnos madagascariensis Spreng. ex Baker
  • Strychnos megalocarpa Gilg & Busse
  • Strychnos meughe Chiov.
  • Strychnos miniungansamba Gilg
  • Strychnos mueghe Chiov.
  • Strychnos omphalocarpa Gilg & Busse

and 14 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.