False rubber tree

Description

Holarrhena floribunda, commonly known as the false rubber tree, conessi bark or kurchi bark,is a plant in the family Apocynaceae. Holarrhena floribunda grows as a shrub or tree up to 25 metres (82 ft) tall, with a stem diameter of up to 30 centimetres (12 in). Its fragrant flowers feature a white corolla. The fruit is pale grey to dark brown with paired follicles, each up to 60 centimetres (24 in) long. Holarrhena floribunda is found in a variety of habitats from sea-level to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) altitude. The plant is native to a wide range of West and Central Africa from Senegal to Angola. Holarrhena floribunda is locally used in traditional medicine as a treatment for dysentery, diarrhoea, fever, snakebite, infertility, venereal disease, diabetes and malaria. The plant has been used as arrow poison. Holarrhena is a genus of plant in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1810. It is native to tropical and southern Africa as well as south, east, and southeast Asia.