It contains the following species and varieties: The genus was described by Hermann Harms and published in Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien by Adolf Engler and Karl Anton Eugen Prantl 1: 313 in the year 1897.

[2] In a paper on the genus Mostuea (Gelsemiaceae) French botanist, taxonomist and explorer Auguste Chevalier (1873–1956) quotes the Catholic priest and renowned authority on Gabonese language and culture, Father André Raponda-Walker (1871–1968) as placing an unnamed Gabonese species of Schumanniophyton in the same class of sleep-dispelling, aphrodisiac and hallucinogenic plants as Tabernanthe iboga (Apocynaceae) and Mostuea batesii (syn.

The passage runs as follows: "This root" [that of Mostuea batesii] (writes Father Walker) "is considered to possess an action comparable to those of Tabernanthe iboga and Schumanniophyton.

[translated from the French of Auguste Chevalier] [3]The aqueous extract of Schumanniophyton magnificum demonstrated aphrodisiac effects in an in vivo study.

UHPLC/MS analysis of the extract identified seven major compounds, including Schumanniofioside A, Noreugenin, and Rohitukine, which possess antioxidant and antibacterial properties.