Strychnos minor

Strychnos minor, commonly known as snakewood, is a plant in the family Loganiaceae found in tropical areas from India through southeast Asia to New Guinea and Australia. It was first described in 1818.

Description

Strychnos minor is a woody vine growing up to long and a stem diameter up to. The leaves are simple and arranged in opposite pairs on the stems. They have three conspicuous veins arising from the base of the leaf and numerous lateral veins between them in a ladder-like arrangement. Small flowers about long are produced in the and are followed by yellow globular fruit about diameter, containing up to four flat pale brown seeds.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by German botanist August Wilhelm Dennstedt in 1818, and published in Schlüssel zum Hortus Indicus Malabaricus, oder dreifaches Register zu diesem Werke.

Distribution and habitat

This species is native to the following areas:

Indian subcontinent – India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nicobar Islands
Indo-China – Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaya
Malesia – Sumatera, Borneo, Sulawesi, Philippines, Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku
Papuasia – New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands
Australia – Northern Territory, Queensland

It inhabits gallery forest and rainforest at altitudes from sea level to about. In the Tiwi Islands it is associated with permanent springs and spring-fed water bodies.

Conservation

This species is listed as least concern under the Queensland Government's Nature Conservation Act. In the Northern Territory it is classed as near threatened., it has not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.