Genus of the Month
February
This page has been created for people who want to learn more about plants, especially in the
context of their taxonomy (Latin names, etc.). This is by no means an exhaustive list of
all available Web resources for a particular genus.
If you like this page, you might also want to visit the Land of the Glandular Trichomes
, a microscopic look at plants in the Lamiaceae family. Also, you can see my contribution to the
Conservation New England web site, entitled
"The Introduction of Non-Native Plants into Massachusetts".
This month's genus:
Strychnos
Subclass: Dicotyledoneae
Superorder: Asteridae
Order: Gentianiales
Family: Loganiaceae
Tribe: Strychneae
Number of Species: about 200
Root: appears to be derived from the Latin "strychnon", for "nightshade".
The genus Strychnos is made up of tropical woody species, many of them producing potent alkaloids, including the well
known poison
strychnine, and the probably not-so-well known poison
curare.
Here are a few links to images and descriptions of different Strychnos species:
- The New York Botanical Garden has
herbarium records for over 100 species in this genus. Unfortunately, images for these species were not available at the
time this web page went online.
- Read about the history and poisonous effects of
Ignatius Beans (S. ignatii) at Botanical.com
- See images of the foliage, flowers and fruit of the following species, from Kohler's Medicinal Plants:
References:
- Heywood, V.H., ed. Flowering Plants of the World. New York, Oxford University Press: 1993.
- Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online: Strychnos.
Current Genus of the Week
Jenn's Home Page
Kesseli Lab
