Strychnos

See text Strychnos is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the family Loganiaceae (sometimes Strychnaceae).

[1] The genus is widely distributed around the world's tropics and is noted for the presence of poisonous indole alkaloids in the roots, stems and leaves of various species.

The name strychnos was applied by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History to Solanum nigrum.

The word is derived from the Ancient Greek στρύχνον (strúkhnon) – "acrid", "bitter".

The meaning of the word strychnos was not fixed in Ancient Greece, where it could designate a variety of different plants having in common the property of toxicity.

Strychnos nux-vomica , the strychnine tree
Strychnos ignatii , the "bean of St. Ignatius " - another source of the very toxic, convulsant indole alkaloid strychnine