Strychnos madagascariensis fruit

The fruit of the black monkey-orange, Strychnos madagascariensis, is spherical and large, about 9 cm in diameter. The shell is thick and woody, starting off bluish green, turning yellow to dull orange late and remaining on the tree for long. Up to fifty seeds are embedded in the juicy, orange pulp.

Game, stock and people eat the fruit. Local people dry and grind the pulp to a powder that can be stored long, sometimes consumed with honey as the taste is not remarkable. The dry fruit shells are sometimes used as musical instruments.

The short-stalked flowers that preceded the fruits are small and greenish yellow, grown in small clusters from leaf axils or on old wood. Flowering happens from late winter to early summer (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Pooley, 1993).