68 articles
Strophanthus kombe
Strophanthus kombe (kombe arrow poison) is an East and southern African Apocynaceae liana whose glycoside-rich seeds served as arrow poison and yielded the heart medicine strophanthin-K, distinct from S. gratus (ouabain).
Swertia
Swertia L. is a genus of about 170 gentian-family herbs native from subarctic Northern Hemisphere to Old World tropical mountains, with xanthone- and iridoid-rich species such as S. chirayita used in Asian traditional medicine.
Tabernaemontana divaricata
Tabernaemontana divaricata, crepe jasmine or pinwheel flower, an Apocynaceae shrub native from the Himalayas to Indo-China, cultivated for fragrant pinwheel flowers, containing 66 reported alkaloids, IUCN least concern.
Tabernanthe iboga
Tabernanthe iboga (iboga) is a Central African Apocynaceae shrub, Bwiti sacrament in Gabon, source of ibogaine (~0.3% of root bark), IUCN Least Concern but threatened by overharvesting; Gabon banned wild export in 2019.
Thevetia
Thevetia (syn. Cascabela in part) is a small Apocynaceae genus native from Mexico to southern tropical America and Cuba, with three accepted species; its best-known member, the yellow oleander (Cascabela thevetia, syn. Thevetia peruviana), is a poisonous ornamental containing cardiac glycosides such as thevetin and peruvoside.
Vinca
Vinca (periwinkle) is a genus of seven Apocynaceae groundcover species native to Europe to Central Asia, including V. major and V. minor, invasive in North America; distinct from Catharanthus roseus, source of vinca alkaloids.
Vinca minor
Vinca minor, lesser or common periwinkle, is an evergreen Apocynaceae ground cover native to Europe and the Caucasus, spreading by stolons, rarely by seed, producing vincamine, and invasive in parts of North America.
Withania somnifera (अश्वगन्धा)
Withania somnifera (ashwagandha, Indian ginseng, winter cherry) is a Solanaceae shrub used in Ayurveda; withanolide-containing root extracts show trial evidence for stress, insomnia, and anxiety, with rare liver injury reported.