Strychnos pseudo-quina

Name and publication

Strychnos pseudo-quina A. St. Hil., Mem. Mus. Par. 9: 340 (1822).

Description

Leaves of quina are moss-green with curved veins, 5-12 cm long x 4-5.5 cm wide, coated with fine brown hairs on the underside, on a 2-12 mm long petiole. This has been used as a quinine substitute in the Amazon (quina do campo, falsa quina) and is apparently not poisonous to adults, but the deadly poisonous seeds of S. nux-vomica L., strychninetree, have appeared in potpourri in England.

Nativity and distribution

Strychnos pseudo-quina is native to Brazil.

Family

Loganiaceae