Poison nut | Article about Poison nut by The Free Dictionary Poison nut | Article about Poison nut by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Medical , Wikipedia . nux vomica (nŭks vŏm`əkə), bitter-tasting drug obtained from the poisonous seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica, a tree that grows in Sri Lanka, India, and N Australia. The dried seeds contain strychnine strychnine , bitter alkaloid drug derived from the seeds of a tree, Strychnos nux-vomica, native to Sri Lanka, Australia, and India. It has been used as a rat poison for five centuries, and rat biscuits still remain a cause of accidental poisoning in humans. ..... Click the link for more information. and brucine, both colorless crystalline alkaloids, as well as sugar, acid, and oil. In the past nux vomica was used as a tonic in the form of a tincture, or alcoholic solution, but it is not used in modern medicine. In minute quantities it has a powerful peristaltic action on the intestines and in larger doses causes convulsions and death.

Nux Vomica (Strychnos nux-vomica), also strychnine tree a small tree (to 15 m high) of the family Loganiaceae. The leaves are opposite, leathery, and shiny. The small greenish white flowers are gathered into umbellate cymose inflorescences. The fruit is a berry, with two to eight very hard disk-shaped seeds with shiny, silky hairs. The nux vomica is native to the tropical forests of Asia and northern Australia; it is cultivated in the tropics of Africa. Like several other closely related species, it contains poisonous alkaloids (strychnine, brucine), mainly in the seeds. Strychnine (nitrate) and galenicals (the dried extract and tincture of nux vomica) are used in medicine and veterinary medicine as tonics to treat lowered metabolism, rapid fatigability, hypotension, weakened cardiac activity (resulting from intoxication and infection), pareses and paralyses, and atony of the stomach. The genus Strychnos contains 150 to 200 species, which are common to the tropics of both hemispheres.

Some species are used as a source of the arrow poison curare, which contains alkaloids called curarines; others are used to treat snakebites and to purify drinking water. [29–592.–1] nux vomica A Modern Herbal | Nux Vomica [ Top ] ---Medicinal Action and Uses--- The propertiesof Nux Vomica are substantially those of the alkaloid Strychnine. The powdered seeds are employed in atonic dyspepsia. The tincture of Nux Vomica is often used in mixtures - for its stimulant action on the gastro-intestinal tract. In the mouth it acts as a bitter, increasing appetite; it stimulates peristalsis, in chronic constipation due to atony of the bowel it is often combined with cascara and other laxatives with good effects. Strychnine, the chief alkaloid constituent of the seeds, also acts as a bitter, increasing the flow of gastric juice; it is rapidly absorbed as it reaches the intestines, after which it exerts its characteristic effects upon the central nervous system, the movements of respiration are deepened and quickened and the heart slowed through excitation of the vagal centre.

The senses of smell, touch, hearing and vision are rendered more acute, it improves the pulse and raises blood pressure and is of great value as a tonic to the circulatory system in cardiac failure. Strychnine is excreted very slowly and its action is cumulative in any but small doses; it is much used as a gastric tonic in dyspepsia. The most direct symptom caused by strychnine is violent convulsions due to a simultaneous stimulation of the motor or sensory ganglia of the spinal cord; during the convulsion there is great rise in blood pressure; in some types of chronic lead poisoning it is of great value. In cases of surgical shock and cardiac failure large doses are given up to 1/10 grain by hypodermic injection; also used as an antidote in poisoning by chloral or chloroform. Brucine closely resembles strychnine in its action, but is slightly less poisonous, it paralyses the peripheral motor nerves. It is said that the convulsive action characteristic of strychnine is absent in brucine almost entirely. It is used in pruritis and as a local anodyne in inflammations of the external ear.

[ Top ] ---Preparations and Dosages--- Strychnine should not be administered in liquid form combined with bromides, iodides or chlorides, there being a risk of formation of the insoluble hydrobromide, etc. Nux Vomica, 1 to 4 grains. Extract of Nux Vomica, B.P., 1/4 to 1 grain. Extract of Nux Vomica, B.P. 1885, 1/4 to 1 grain. Extract of Nux Vomica, U.S.P., 1/4 grain. Liquid extract of Nux Vomica, B.P., 1 to 3 minims. Fluid extract of Nux Vomica, U.S.P., 1 minim. Tincture of Nux Vomica, B.P., 5 to 15 minims. Tincture of Nux Vomica, B.P. 1885, 10 to 20 minims. Tincture of Nux Vornica, U.S.P., 10 minims. Strychnine, B.P., 1/6 to 1/15 grain.

Hypodermic injection of strychnine. Solution of Strychnine Hydrochloride, B.P., 2 to 8 minims. Acid Strychnine Mixture, B.P.C., 1/2 to 1 fluid ounce. [ Top ] ---Poisoning and Antidotes--- In cases of poisoning by strychnine an emetic or the stomach pump should be used at once and tannin or potassium permanganate given to render the strychnine inactive. Violent convulsions should be controlled by administration of chloroform or large doses of chloral or bromide. Urethane in large doses is considered an antidote. Amyl nitrite is also useful owing to its rapid action during the convulsion, and in absence of respiration 3 to 5 minims may be hypodermically injected. Strychnos tieute, a clumbing shrub growing in Java, gives a juice termed Upas tieute, said to be used by the natives as an arrow poison; it produces death by violent convulsions, the heart stopping before respiration. S.

toxifera yields the deadly poison Curare (Woorari or Urari) used by the natives of British Guiana. S. ligustrina, the wood of which contains brucine, as does the bark. S. pseudo is found in the mountains and forests of India. It supplies the seeds known as clearing nuts. The fruit is black, the size of a cherry, containing only one seed; fruit and seeds are used medicinally in India and also to clear muddy water, the seeds being rubbed for a minute inside the vessel and the water then allowed to settle; their efficiency depending on their albumen and casein contents acting as a fining agent similar to those employed to clarify wine and beer. S. innocua. The fruit and pulp are harmless and are eaten by the natives of Egypt and Senegal. S. Ignatii is found in the Philippines, the seeds containing strychnine and brucine, strychnine being present in greater quantity than in Nux Vomica. A tincture made from the beans is official in the British Pharmacopoeia Codex.

Strychnos nux-vomica, strychnine - THE POISON GARDEN website THE POISON GARDEN website Strychnos nux-vomica, strychnine tree Summary A once popular murder weapon that is believed to have killed an unknowable number of people, especially during the 19th century. Blog Entries Meaning of the Name Strychnos Said to be from Greek, 'strychnon' but no origin is apparent. Usually translated as ‘nightshade’ after Pliny . nux-vomica ‘Nux-vomica’ does not, as many people believe, mean ‘no vomiting’ or ‘stops vomiting’. ‘Nux’ is Latin for ‘nut’ and ‘vomica’ means ‘lump’ or ‘abcess’. In the context of this plant, then, ‘nux-vomica’ means ‘the seed looks like a nut and has a lump on it’. Common Names and Synonyms strychnine tree, poison nut, snake-wood, semen strychnos, Quaker buttons How Poisonous, How Harmful? It is sometimes said that strychnine builds up in the body over time in the same way as arsenic.

This is not true. Strychnine is metabolised quite quickly. The body does, however, become sensitized to strychnine so that repeated exposure to small doses increases the effect. In time the same dose has a much greater effect which may explain the belief that it remains in the body until a fatal accumulation is achieved. Strychnine, an indole found in the seeds, is a powerful central nervous system stimulant that competes with the inhibitory neurotransmitter glycine, producing an excitatory state with hyperreflexia, severe muscle spasm, and convulsions. Its principal action is to cause uncontrolled muscle contractions. In overdose, these lead to death from exhaustion or cardiac arrest. The muscle contractions can result in muscle tearing itself away from bone allowing the body to be twisted into normally impossible positions. Incidents A young Strychnos plant The October, 2002 edition of the journal ‘Critical Care’ carried a paper about a 42 year old man who took himself to hospital after swallowing some white powder he found in his shed where he had been drinking a whole bottle of wine. Shortly after arrival, he suffered cardiac arrest and was resuscitated.

He suffered muscle spasms so severe that he was given a paralysing agent and his blood pressure remained very low for some time. The twitching continued for three days but, after five days he returned to normal and, apparently suffered no lasting damage. There are a number of reports of both fatal and non-fatal poisoning in Asia after the use of strychnine-based herbal remedies. These all mention the rapidity of onset of symptoms and the need for prompt, aggressive treatment. Strychnine is one of the principle murder poisons both in fiction and in fact. In Victorian times it was a major part of rat poison, which was available, no questions asked, from most shops. The pre-death convulsions it causes are called tetanic because they look like tetanus, a disease that was endemic in the inner cities at the time. It is believed that many men met their ends via strychnine but murder was never suspected. From the late 19th century, when it became much more tightly controlled, murder by strychnine became the province of the medical profession.

A number of users of strychnine feature in the talk about 'Medical Murderers', more details of which can be found on the 'Talks' page. Folklore and Facts At the 1904 Olympics in St Louis, the first man to cross the line in the marathon, Fred Lorz, had been seen waving from the backseat of a car for much of the course. The gold medal was, therefore, awarded to Thomas Hicks, a British born man who ran for the USA. Hicks had been on the point of collapse ten miles from the finish so his trainers gave him strychnine sulphate mixed in egg whites and washed down with brandy. One dose was not enough and Hicks crossed the line being held up by two trainers. His legs were running but his feet were not in contact with the track. He required four hours of medical treatment before he was able to leave the stadium. Until very recently strychnine was still in use as a mole poison. The UK government lost its appeal against having to enforce new EU legislation on the use of strychnine based poisons to kill pests.

The UK government was concerned about the 3000 licensed mole catchers who, until this ruling, could use strychnine in their work. This use to poison moles cost a life as recently as 1934. Ethel Major used strychnine, which her gamekeeper father had for pest control, to murder her husband. His death was attributed to ‘status epilepticus’, a condition producing prolonged seizure with convulsions, and she might have got away with it had she not put some leftover food scraps out for a neighbour’s dog which died as a result. The police were able to do a post mortem examination of the dog and obtain evidence of the presence of strychnine which gave them grounds for exhuming the husband. It is sometimes said that Venetian ladies used Strychnos nux-vomica as the ‘inheritance plant’. There is no evidence for this use. There was an ‘inheritance powder’ which has been shown to be arsenic used as a way of speeding the acquisition of the family silver.

Madame Toffana, who, in the 17th C, was accused of being responsible for 600 deaths mostly undertaken by women she had trained, used a paste containing arsenic. This was sold as a cosmetic but women who had the benefit of Madame Toffana’s training knew how to apply it to more deadly purposes. Site Update All the pages in the A to Z section are regularly updated. Strychnine plant, Strychnos nux-vomica Linn., NUX-VOMICA TREE, Ma qian zi : Philippine Medicinal Herbs / Alternative Medicine - Introduced to the Philippines, - nowhere spontaneous. - Cultivated in the College of Agriculture, Los Banos, Laguna. - Native of Sri Lanka, India, and Burma. Constituents - It is a major source of the highly poisonous alkaloids: strychnine and brucine. - The alkaloids are the major components of the species. - Seeds contain strychnine (1.5%) and brucine, and a glucoside, loganine. - Leaves contain brucine 1.6%, strychnine 0.25%.

- The bark, wood and old roots contain strychnine and brucine in varying amounts. - Pulp of the fruit contains a glucoside – loganin. - Fixed oil of the seeds contain oleic, palmitic, arachic, butyric acid, among other, plus some amounts of strychnine and brucine. - Study isolated a colored monquaternary bisindole alkaloid from the roots. (19) - Study yielded 22 compounds from an antitumor active fraction: brucine, strychnine , brucine-N-oxide, strychnine-N-oxide, strychnine methiodide, pseudobrucine, pseudostrychnine, icajine, vomicine, novacine, ferulic acid, caffeic acid ethyl ester, cinnamic acid, protocatechuic acid, salicylic acid, gallic acid, vanillic acid, ursolic acid, β-simiarenol, β-sitosterol, and daucosterol.

(see studies below) - Study isolated 13 alkaloids from the seeds: strychnine, beta-colubrine, pseudostrychnine, strychnine N-oxide, brucime, brucine N-oxide, novacine, icajine, vomicine, isostrychnine, isobrucine, isobrucine N-oxide and isostrychnine N-oxide Properties - Strychnine, the chief active principle, is one of the most powerful poisons that act on the nervous and muscular systems. It can cause sudden tetanic tonic contraction. - The toxic properties of the alkaloids have limited its wider use. - Seed is nervine, stomachic, tonic, aphrodisiac, stimulant (cardiac, respiratory, spinal). - Strychnine is stimulant to the respiratory and vasomotor centers. - Bark is employed as tonic and febrifuge. - In excessive doses it is virulently poisonous, producing tetanic convulsions from simultaneous stimulation of the motor and sensory ganglia of the spinal cord. - Brucine resembles strychnine, but is less poisonous, causing paralysis only of the peripheral motor nerves.

- Bark considered tonic and febrifuge. - Used in pruritus and as local anodyne in external ear inflammations. Parts utilized Seeds are removed from the fruit when ripe; then, cleaned, dried and sorted. Uses Folkloric - Mixtures of Nux Vomica were used as gastrointestinal stimulants, increasing appetite by stimulation of peristalsis. Strychnine also increase the flow of gastric juice. - Alternative medicine systems have suggested strychnos for a wide range of medical problems: liver cancer, various gastrointestinal complaints (abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, intestinal irritation, heartburn), insomnia, nervous conditions, menopausal problems. - In Indian pharmacopoeia, used in paralytic and neuralgic affections, in atonic diarrhea and chronic dysentery, and in habitual constipation dependent on color torpor, in rectal prolapse, urine incontinence, spermatorrhea, in cases of debility or inactivity of the spinal system of nerves. Also used in intermittent fevers, epilepsy, diabetes, anemia, and chlorosis. - In Chinese medicine, used for liver cancer treatment. - Powdered seeds used for atonic dyspepsia.

- Seeds used in rheumatism, paralysis, asthma, diabetes, piles. Poison / Toxicity - Although widely used in medicine before World War II, there are no present uses in modern western medicine. - It is a deadly poison with a lethal dose of about 30 to 120 mg in humans. - Doses of 5 mg or more (as little as one seed) can cause anxiety, restlessness, painful convulsions, respiratory difficulty and even death from suffocation or exhaustion. - In case of poisoning, a stomach pump should be used immediately and potassium permanganate given to inactivate strychnine. There is no specific antidote. Treatment is supportive. Convulsions can be controlled by anesthetics. Studies • Cancer Treatment Claims: Available scientific evidence does not support claims that Strychnos nux-vomica is effective in treating cancer, relieving the side effects of conventional cancer treatment, or treating any other condition. • In Vitro Cytotoxicity Study: Study showed the methanol extract of Strychnos nux-vomica failed to show any significant cytotoxicity activity.

Study also showed the extract of S nux-vomica did not have any potential to arrest human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. (3) • Anti-Tumor: Study yielded 22 compounds from an antitumor active fraction. (See Constituents above) Five compounds - strychnine-N-oxide, strychnine methiodide, pseudobrucine,icajine, and ursolic acid showed inhibitory activity towards human lung cell line A549. • Inhibition of Iron-Induced Lipid Peroxidation: Study of alcohol extract of Snv on FeSO4-induced lipid peroxidation in vivo showed dose-dependent inhibition, probably through a mechanism of chelation of Fe++/Fe+++ ion in the system and not by trapping the hydroxyl radicals. It also significant maintained the hepatic glutathione content in a time- and dose-dependent manner. (6) • Helicobacter Pylori Treatment: Study investigated the influence of Nux vomica and Calendula officinalis on HB-EGF-like growth factor gene expression. Data showed the ethanolic solution of both drugs were potent inhibitors of H. pylori induced gene expression.

(8) • Antiproliferative / Cytotoxic: Snv root extract exhibited anti-proliferative activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner on the human MM (multiple myeloma)-cell line, RPMI 8226. The extract treated cells showed significant features of apoptosis. The activity could be attributed to the a antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities could be attributed to the alkaloids strychnine and brucine. (9) • Brucine / Apoptotic Effect: Study evaluated the cytotoxic effects of four alkaloids in Strychnos nux-vomica - brucine, brucine N-oxide, strychnine, and isostrychnine - on human hepatoma cells (HepG2) through a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrasolium bromide (MTT) assay . Of the four alkaloids, brucine exhibited the strongest toxic effect, with HepG2 cell apoptosis, possibly involving Ca++ and Bcl-2 mediated mitochondrial pathway.

(10) • Anti-Inflammatory / Antioxidant: Study showed an ethanol extract to possess potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant property without detectable adverse effect. (11) • Brucine / Analgesic / Ant-Inflammatory: Study of brucine and brucine N-oxide extracted from the seeds of Snv showed significant protective activities against thermic and chemical stimuli. Brucine N-oxide showed stronger inhibitory effect than brucine in the carrageenan-induced paw edema model, with both significantly inhibiting the release of prostaglandin E2. The results suggest the involvement of central and peripheral mechanisms in pain modulation and anti-inflammatory effects. (12) • Immunomodulatory: Study evaluated the possible immunomodulatory effect on induction of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific IgE antibody response in a murine model. Results confirmed the suppressive activity of Snv on allergen-specific IgE antibody response and suggest an application for allergic conditions. • Antidiabetic / Free Radical Scavenging / Seeds: Study evaluated a methanolic extract of Strychnos nuxvomica in alloxan induced diabetic model.

Results showed a dose dependent effect attributed to increased uptake of glucose at the tissue level or by an increase in pancreatic beta cell function due to inhibition of intestinal absorption of glucose. Extract also showed antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay. (14) • Antisnake Venom Activity / Seed: Study evaluated a whole seed extract effectively neutralized Daboia russelii venom induced lethal hemorrhage, defibrinogenating, PLA2 enzyme activity and Naja kaouthia venom induced lethal, cardiotoxic, neurotoxic, PLA2 enzyme activity. The actual mechanism of SNVNF induced venom neutralization was not clear but may be due to inactivation of of venom proteins toxins. (15) • Larvicidal / Culex quinquefasciatus: Study evaluated the larvicidal activity of various leaf extracts of S. nuxvomica against third instar larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus. Results showed the ethyl acetate extract to be the effective larvicide, and suggests a potential for use in larval mosquito population control.

(16) • Purificatory Measures: Ayurveda has long advocated that nux vomica seeds be administered in therapeutics only after going through purificatory measures. All six media for purification (cow's milk, cow's ghee, thin gruel, castor oil and fresh ginger juice). The study used cow's urine and cow's milk as media alone or in combination. Maximum reduction in strychnine and brucine contents was found when seeds were purified by keeping them in cow's urine for seven days followed by boiling in cow's milk for three hours. (17) • Antimicrobial: Study evaluated various leaf extracts of S. nuxvomica and C. angustifolia for antimicrobial activity. The n-butanol extract of both plants inhibited all the bacterial and fungal test strains, comparable to standard antibiotics. (18) • Inhibition of Corrosion of Mild Steel: Study showed the seed extract of Kuchla (S. nuxvomica) could serve as an effective inhibitor of corrosion of mild steel in hydrochloric acid media (20) Availability IDENTIFICATION OF ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITY STRYCHNOS NUX-VOMICA ROOTS /S.

Tripathi et al / IJSID 2011, 1 (3), 30-33 (6) Studies on the inhibitory effect of Strychnos nux vomica-alcohol extract on iron induced lipid peroxidation / Y B Tripathi, S Chaurasia / Phytomedicine, Volume 3, Issue 2, September 1996, Pages 175–180 / (7) Studies on the chemical constituents of alkaloids in seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica L. / Yang X W, Yan Z K / Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 1993 Dec;18(12):739-40, 763-4. (8) Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor expression in KATO-III cells after Helicobacter pylori stimulation under the influence of strychnos Nux vomica and Calendula officinalis / Hofbauer R, Pasching E, Moser D, Frass M. / Homeopathy, 2010 Jul;99(3):177-82.

(9) Anti-proliferative and cytotoxic effects of Strychnos nux-vomica root extract on human multiple myeloma cell line – RPMI 8226 / Pasupuleti Sreenivasa Rao, Madduri Ramanadham, Majeti Narasimha Vara Prasad / Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 47, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 283–288 (10) The Apoptotic Effect of Brucine from the Seed of Strychnos nux-vomica on Human Hepatoma Cells is Mediated via Bcl-2 and Ca2+ Involved Mitochondrial Pathway / Xukun Deng, Fangzhou Yin, Xiaoyu Lu, Baochang Cai and Wu Yin / Toxicol. Sci. (May 2006) 91 (1): 59-69. / doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfj114 (11) Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Activity of Strychnos nux vomica Linn.

/ Savita Chaurasia / American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 3(2): 244-252, 2009 (12) Analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of brucine and brucine N-oxide extracted from seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica / Wu Yin∗, Tian-Shan Wang, Fang-Zhou Yin, Bao-Chang Cai / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2003) 205–214 (13) Sorting Strychnos names / /Maintained by: Michel H. Porcher / MULTILINGUAL MULTISCRIPT PLANT NAME DATABASE / Copyright © 1995 - 2020 The University of Melbourne. (14) STUDY OF ANTIDIABETIC AND FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING ACTIVITY OF THE SEED EXTRACT OF STRYCHNOS NUXVOMICA / V.CHITRA, * VENKATA.K.R.CH.H.VARMA.P, M.V.R.KRISHNA RAJU, K.

JEYA PRAKASH / International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vol 2, Suppl 1, 2010 (15) Antisnake venom activity of ethanolic seed extract of Strychnos nux vomica Linn. / Ipshita Chatterjeea, A K Chakravartyb & A Gomesa* / Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol. 42, May 2004, pp. 468-47 (16) Larvicidal Efficacy of Strychnos nuxvomica Linn. (Loganiaceae) Leaf Extracts Against the Filarial Vector Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) / S.

Arivoli and 2Samuel Tennyson / World Journal of Zoology 7 (1): 06-11,, 2012 / DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wjz.2012.7.1.56374 (17) Effect of Purificatory Measures through Cow's Urine and Milk on Strychnine and Brucine Content of Kupeelu (Strychnos nuxvomica Linn.) Seeds / S Mitra, VJ Shukla, R Acharya / African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines. Vol 9, No 1 (2012) (18) Antimicrobial Activity of Strychnos nux-vomica Linn and Cassia angustifolia Linn / S. Gnanavel1, R. Bharathidasan, R.mahalingam, P.Madhanraj* and A. Panneerselvam / Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2012; Vol.

2: Issue 1, Pg 08-11 (19) Strychnochrysine, a New Bisindole Alkaloid from the Roots of Strychnos nux-vomica / Rose Gadi Biala , Monique Tits, Jacques Penelle, Michel Frédérich, Viviane Brandt, Christelle Prospéri, Gabriel Llabrès, and Luc Angenot * / J. Nat. Prod., 1998, 61 (1), pp 139–141 / DOI: 10.1021/np9703454 (20) Nyassa | Article about Nyassa by The Free Dictionary Nyassa | Article about Nyassa by The Free Dictionary Related to Nyassa: Nyasa nux vomica (nŭks vŏm`əkə), bitter-tasting drug obtained from the poisonous seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica, a tree that grows in Sri Lanka, India, and N Australia.

The dried seeds contain strychnine strychnine , bitter alkaloid drug derived from the seeds of a tree, Strychnos nux-vomica, native to Sri Lanka, Australia, and India. It has been used as a rat poison for five centuries, and rat biscuits still remain a cause of accidental poisoning in humans. ..... Click the link for more information. and brucine, both colorless crystalline alkaloids, as well as sugar, acid, and oil. In the past nux vomica was used as a tonic in the form of a tincture, or alcoholic solution, but it is not used in modern medicine. In minute quantities it has a powerful peristaltic action on the intestines and in larger doses causes convulsions and death. Nux Vomica (Strychnos nux-vomica), also strychnine tree a small tree (to 15 m high) of the family Loganiaceae. The leaves are opposite, leathery, and shiny. The small greenish white flowers are gathered into umbellate cymose inflorescences.

The fruit is a berry, with two to eight very hard disk-shaped seeds with shiny, silky hairs. The nux vomica is native to the tropical forests of Asia and northern Australia; it is cultivated in the tropics of Africa. Like several other closely related species, it contains poisonous alkaloids (strychnine, brucine), mainly in the seeds. Strychnine (nitrate) and galenicals (the dried extract and tincture of nux vomica) are used in medicine and veterinary medicine as tonics to treat lowered metabolism, rapid fatigability, hypotension, weakened cardiac activity (resulting from intoxication and infection), pareses and paralyses, and atony of the stomach. The genus Strychnos contains 150 to 200 species, which are common to the tropics of both hemispheres. Some species are used as a source of the arrow poison curare, which contains alkaloids called curarines; others are used to treat snakebites and to purify drinking water.

[29–592.–1] nux vomica Nux vomica | definition of nux vomica by Medical dictionary Nux vomica | definition of nux vomica by Medical dictionary nux vom·i·ca (nŭks vom'i-kă), Poison nut or Quaker button, the seed of Strychnos nux-vomica (family Logeniaceae), a tree of tropical Asia; it contains two alkaloids, strychnine and brucine; it has been used as a bitter tonic and central nervous system stimulant. [Mod. L. emetic nut, fr. L. nux, nut, + vomo, to vomit] nux vomica (nŭks vŏm′ĭ-kə) n. 1. A tree (Strychnos nux-vomica) native to South and Southeast Asia, having poisonous seeds that are a source of the alkaloids strychnine and brucine. 2. The seeds of this tree or a preparation or extract made from them.

nux vomica [nuks′ vom′ikə] Etymology: L, nux, nut, vomere, to vomit the dried ripe seeds of a small Asian tree, Strychnos nux vomica, a source of the alkaloids strychnine and brucine. The seeds are powdered, and the strychnine content is reduced to a little more than 1% by the addition of lactose for use as a bitter tonic and nerve stimulant. It is unsafe at this concentration. Homeopathic remedies of nux vomica are much more diluted and are considered safe. Nux vomica Homeopathy A homeopathic remedy formulated from the strychnine tree native to western Asia and Australia; it is used for colds, coughs, gastrointestinal complaints (including colic, cystitis, diarrhoea and indigestion), hangovers, headache with vertigo, haemorrhoids, hypersensitivity, irritability, laryngitis, menstrual cramping and dysfunction, morning sickness, nasal congestion, sinusitis, urinary frequency and vomiting. nux vomica powdered nut of the plant Strychnos nux-vomica. In earlier times was used as a stimulant to appetite.

Also finds use in small animals as a herbal remedy, but the strychnine content presents the possibility of toxicity. Poison nut | definition of Poison nut by Medical dictionary Poison nut | definition of Poison nut by Medical dictionary nux vom·i·ca (nŭks vom'i-kă), Poison nut or Quaker button, the seed of Strychnos nux-vomica (family Logeniaceae), a tree of tropical Asia; it contains two alkaloids, strychnine and brucine; it has been used as a bitter tonic and central nervous system stimulant. [Mod. L. emetic nut, fr. L. nux, nut, + vomo, to vomit] nux vomica (nŭks vŏm′ĭ-kə) n. 1. A tree (Strychnos nux-vomica) native to South and Southeast Asia, having poisonous seeds that are a source of the alkaloids strychnine and brucine. 2. The seeds of this tree or a preparation or extract made from them.

nux vomica [nuks′ vom′ikə] Etymology: L, nux, nut, vomere, to vomit the dried ripe seeds of a small Asian tree, Strychnos nux vomica, a source of the alkaloids strychnine and brucine. The seeds are powdered, and the strychnine content is reduced to a little more than 1% by the addition of lactose for use as a bitter tonic and nerve stimulant. It is unsafe at this concentration. Homeopathic remedies of nux vomica are much more diluted and are considered safe. Nux vomica Homeopathy A homeopathic remedy formulated from the strychnine tree native to western Asia and Australia; it is used for colds, coughs, gastrointestinal complaints (including colic, cystitis, diarrhoea and indigestion), hangovers, headache with vertigo, haemorrhoids, hypersensitivity, irritability, laryngitis, menstrual cramping and dysfunction, morning sickness, nasal congestion, sinusitis, urinary frequency and vomiting. nux vomica powdered nut of the plant Strychnos nux-vomica. In earlier times was used as a stimulant to appetite.

Also finds use in small animals as a herbal remedy, but the strychnine content presents the possibility of toxicity. Nux Vomica (U. S. P.)—Nux Vomica. | Henriette's Herbal Homepage Henriette's Herbal Homepage Welcome to the bark side. Search form Nux Vomica (U. S. P.)—Nux Vomica. Botanical name: "The seed of Strychnos Nux vomica, Linné"—(U. S. P.). Nat. Ord.—Loganiaceae. COMMON NAMES: Nux vomica, Nux vomica seed, Quaker buttons, Poison nut (Semen nucis vomicae). ILLUSTRATION: Bentley and Trimen, Med. Plants, 178. Botanical Source.—This is a moderate-sized tree, with a short, pretty thick, often crooked trunk. The branches are irregular, covered with smooth, ash-colored bark; the young shoots deep-green and highly polished. The wood is white, hard, close-grained, and bitter.

The leaves are opposite, short-stalked, oval, shining, smooth on both sides, 3 to 5-nerved, or rather between that and triple, or quintuple, differing in size from 1 ½ to 4 inches long, and from 1 to 3 broad. The flowers are small, greenish-white, funnel-shaped, in small, terminal cymes, with a disagreeable odor. Calyx 5-toothed; corolla also 5-parted. Filaments scarcely any, or exceedingly short, inserted over the bottom of the divisions of the corolla; anthers oblong, half within the tube, and half without. Ovary superior, roundish, 2-celled, with many ovules in each cell, attached to the thickened center of the partition. Style as long as the tube of the corolla; stigma capitate. The fruit is a berry, round, about the size of a large apple, covered with a smooth, hard rind, of a rich-orange color when ripe, and filled with a white, soft, gelatinous pulp.

The seeds are 5, nidulant, discoidal, with a central prominence, covered with a fine woolly substance, but whitish and hard like horn internally (L.). History and Description.—The nux vomica tree inhabits India, along the Coromandel coast, Ceylon, and other parts of the East Indies. The wood is exceedingly bitter, especially that of the root, which is said to cure intermittent fevers and bites of venomous snakes. The pulp of the fruit is greedily eaten by various birds. The Lignum colubrinum, or Snake-wood, which is generally referred to the Strychnos colubrina, is also derived from the nux vomica wood. The bark contains a large proportion of brucine and some strychnine, and is said to be identical with the false angustura bark, which at one time appeared on the market. The characteristic seeds are the parts used in medicine, the Bombay variety being considered the best commercial sort. As described by the U. S. P., nux vomica is "about 25 Mm.

(1 inch) in diameter, orbicular, grayish or greenish-gray; soft-hairy, of a silky lustre, with a slight ridge extending from the center of one side to the edge; internally horny, somewhat translucent, very tough, with a large circular cavity, into which the heart-shaped, nerved cotyledons project. It is inodorous and persistently bitter"—(U. S. P.). The seeds are with difficulty reduced to a powder. An efficient method is that of the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, which directs them to be softened well with steam, and then sliced, dried, and ground. By another process the seeds may be dried whole for a few days in a drying oven, and, after breaking them into fragments, dried again by the action of warm air, and lastly powdered. The powder has a fallow-gray color, a bitter taste, and a peculiar odor, similar to that of liquorice. Concentrated sulphuric acid blackens it; nitric acid renders it a deep, orange-yellow color. Hot water and diluted alcohol dissolve the bitter, active ingredients; the last solvent acts most energetically. Ether takes up a concrete oil and some wax.

The aqueous decoction is of a pale, grayish-yellow color, and intensely bitter, and becomes orange-yellow on the addition of nitric acid, and emerald-green by sesquioxide of iron, the color disappearing on the addition of hydrochloric acid. Tannic acid, or infusion of nutgalls, produces in the aqueous decoction a copious precipitate. Chemical Composition.—The chief constituents of nux vomica are strychnine (see Strychnina ) and brucine, both existing in combination with igasuric acid (Pelletier and Caventou), a tannic principle identical with caffeo-tannic acid (G. Sander, 1897). A crystallizable glucosid (loganin, C25H34O14) was discovered by Dunstan and Short (Pharm. Jour. Trans., 1884, Vol. XIV, p. 1025), in the pulp surrounding the seeds, the dried pulp containing between 4 and 5 per cent. Loganin was also found in the seeds in small amounts.

When gently heated with a few drops of strong sulphuric acid, a handsome red color is developed, changing to purple on standing. When boiled with diluted acids, it splits into glucose and loganetin. Loganin is readily dissolved by alcohol or water, but is less soluble in ether, chloroform, and benzene. A supposed third alkaloid, igasurin (Desnoix, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1854, p. 31), according to Shenstone (ibid., 1881, p. 610) is probably nothing but impure brucine. The seeds also contain a fatty substance (3 to 4 per cent), yellow coloring matter, nitrogenous matter (11 per cent), gum, sugar, and about 1.5 per cent of ash. The amount of total alkaloids in the seeds, usually containing strychnine and brucine in about equal proportions, has been found to vary from about 2 to 5 per cent. Dunstan and Short (Pharm. Jour. Trans., 1884, Vol. XV, p.

6) found specimens of Ceylon nux vomica especially rich in alkaloids, the latter amounting on an average to 1.7 per cent of strychnine and 3.2 per cent of brucine; the total amount in one instance was 5.34 per cent. Ɣ BRUCINE (C23H26N2O4+4H2O) was discovered by Pelletier and Caventou in 1819. It exists in the bark and seeds of nux vomica, and in St. Ignatius' bean (see Ignatia ). It was obtained by its discoverers from false angustura bark (formerly thought to be the bark of Brucea antidysenterica, Miller—hence the term brucine), but is now obtained as a by-product in the preparation of strychnine from nux vomica (see Strychnina ). Shenstone (loc. cit.) prepared it pure by converting the base (contaminated with small amounts of strychnine) into the hydriodide, and recrystallizing the latter from alcohol repeatedly.

Brucine slowly crystallizes in colorless, transparent, oblique, 4-sided prisms, or by rapid evaporation in pearly scales. It is odorless, intensely and persistently bitter, slightly efflorescing in the air, and fusible a little above 100° C. (212° F.). When anhydrous, it is soluble in alcohol (1.5 parts), chloroform (7 parts), and glycerin (70 parts), in 850 parts of cold water, and 500 parts of boiling water; the hydrous alkaloid (4H2O) is soluble in 320 parts of cold and 150 parts of hot water and in aqua ammoniae; sparingly soluble in fixed and volatile oils, and insoluble in ether. Brucine forms crystallizable salts with acids. In chlorine water brucine entirely dissolves, assuming a rose color, which ammonia converts to a dirty yellow.

Nitric acid dissolves it, also with decomposition, forming a deep rose-scarlet or blood-red color, which, on warming, becomes yellow; if stannous chloride is now added a purple-violet color and precipitate is formed. This behavior toward stannous chloride distinguishes brucine from morphine. Strychnine can be quantitatively separated from brucine by Gerock's process, which consists in converting the mixture of strychnine and brucine into picrates, and warming with nitric acid of specific gravity 1.056, which destroys the picrate of brucine only. Brucine may likewise be destroyed in its mixture with strychnine by merely warming it for half an hour with nitric acid of the strength mentioned (see J. B. Nagelvoort-Flückiger, Reactions, Detroit, 1893, p. 137; and Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assoc., 1893, p. 165).

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Nux vomica is an energetic poison, exerting its influence chiefly upon the cerebro-spinal system; it affects the spinal cord principally, because the division of this cord does not prevent its poisonous influence, and, again, because when the cord is destroyed by the introduction of a piece of whalebone into the spinal canal, the convulsions immediately cease. In poisonous doses, nux vomica produces violent tetanic convulsions, without impairing the functions of the brain, with asphyxia and death. When given in doses sufficiently large to influence the system, a sensation of debility and heaviness is experienced, the spirits become depressed, the limbs tremble, and a slight rigidity or stiffness comes on when it is attempted to move. Frequently, the person can not stand erect; he staggers, and if at this time he be suddenly tapped on the ham while standing, a slight convulsive attack will often ensue, with an inability to stand.

In the most severe paroxysms caused by this medicine, the patient retains his mental faculties, and the slightest motion, noise, or even a breath of wind passing over him, will excite convulsions anew, every time these occur. Sometimes, even with small doses, there will be sudden starts resembling shocks of electricity, which will be more or less severe, occasioning him to jerk the muscles acted on in this manner. It frequently occasions priapism. Of course, these symptoms vary with different persons, in proportion to their susceptibility to the influence of the medicine, and to the quantity swallowed. The usual effects of nux vomica are about as follows: in poisonous doses, stiffness, weariness, pain or rending in the limbs, violent tetanic convulsions, with short intervals of repose, acute sensibility, dreadful alarm, and finally death; in small doses, twitching of the muscles, restlessness, anxiety, and increase of urine, perspiration, etc.; when the doses are rather large, there will be more active spasm of the muscles, a tendency to lockjaw, with the preceding symptoms more or less severe.

Heat in the epigastric region, constriction of the throat, headache, dizziness, and impairment of vision with closely contracted pupils, are often caused by small doses; and more especially with the corpulent and apoplectic, there will be painful sensations in the skin compared to an electric shock, or to the creeping of insects over the surface, with more or less perspiration, slight involuntary spasms of the muscles, and a very disagreeable, dreamy or vague condition of the brain. The pulse may or may not be increased in frequency. Chloroform is beneficial in poisoning by nux vomica. (For other effects, and treatment of poisoning by nux vomica and strychnine, see also Strychninae Sulphas .) In medicinal doses, nux vomica is tonic, and increases the action of the various excretory organs; it should always be given, as well as its alkaloids, in doses to fall short of any immediate sensible effects upon the system. The keynote to its use is atony.

It was formerly employed in cases where there is a want of nervous energy, as in the treatment of paralysis, especially when this has been of some standing, and not occasioned by hemorrhage in the nervous centers, or inflammatory conditions of them. Strychnine is now generally used in its stead. It must not be used in recent cases, or while reaction prevails, or when signs exist either of local irritation in the brain or spinal cord, or of determination of blood toward the head. Congestion or inflammation must always be removed before employing it. It is said to be more beneficial in general paralysis and paraplegia than in hemiplegia, and also in local paralyses, as of the bladder, in amaurosis, impotence, spermatorrhoea, tremor of the muscles produced by habitual intoxication, etc. It has also been beneficially employed in neuralgia, chorea, prolapsus of the rectum, borborygmi of females, colica pictonum, etc. A small quantity added to cathartics frequently increases their energy. Rheumatism, hysteria, mania, and worms have been successfully treated by the use of this agent.

As a remedy for atony of the gastro-intestinal tract, few agents equal, and none exceed nux vomica in value. The condition must not be one of irritation or inflammation, though it may be one of irritability due to atony. Often there is an enfeebled spinal innervation. The tongue is pallid and expressionless, there is nausea or vomiting, a yellow or sallow circle is about the month, and there is evidence of a disordered liver. There may be a yellow, pasty coating upon the tongue, yellowness of the conjunctiva, pain or fullness in the hepatic region, pain in shoulder, and colicky pains pointing to the umbilicus. With any or all of these symptoms it becomes a remedy of first importance, both for the ailments of adults and children. When nausea is due to irritating material in the stomach, nux will not be apt to relieve, but if due to simple atony, it is a positive agent.

Used as above indicated, it is very valuable in cholera infantum, cholera morbus, Asiatic cholera, constipation, chronic dysentery, diarrhoea of atony, nervous debility of the stomach, the gastric irritability of the dipsomaniac (with good food and capsicum), and in chronic non-inflammatory infantile diarrhoea. It is especially used in obstinate and habitual constipation due to atony. A drop of nux vomica should be taken in a glass of cold water upon rising in the morning, and a regular habit of going to stool be encouraged. Nux relieves constipation due to spasmodic conditions of the bowels, and to some extent, that arising from the effects of lead. Nux is a remedy for heartburn, flatulent colic, colic of atony in infants, in all of which the pain centers near the umbilicus. It relieves the vomiting of pregnancy, of hysteria, and of phthisis pulmonalis. In chronic dyspepsia of an atonic character, or associated with dilatation, or flatulent distension, it is one of our best remedies.

Drop doses are of great benefit in the dyspepsia of inebriates. Though usually contraindicated by congestion, it is nevertheless a remedy for hepatic and splenic congestion, or other parts supplied by the coeliac axis. It stimulates the sluggish portal circulation and thereby relieves the congestion dependent thereon. It is the remedy for "biliousness," for hepatic colic, when not due to calculi, and for chronic jaundice due to atony. In stomach and liver disorders requiring nux, there is always a feeble and sluggish circulation, and enfeebled spinal and sympathetic innervation. These conditions are overcome by nux vomica more quickly than by any other agent. Nux vomica is more largely used in disorders of the gastro-hepatic tract than strychnine, while strychnine is generally preferred in nervous, sexual, and bladder disorders. Nux vomica frequently acts as a sedative and antiperiodic. This it does when the conditions above referred to are present. Thus it has proved exceedingly useful when nerve force was low, as in typhoid fever, and in asthmatic seizures, in both of which there was impaired spinal innervation and difficulty in breathing.

It is adapted to cases where the patient awakens suddenly from sleep, with a sense of suffocation; where breathing seems to depend largely on the will power. Here strychnine is valuable. When respiration flags in pneumonia, nux or strychnine is demanded. Nux and strychnine are of great value in the urinal incontinence of children, when not due to irritation, and the same in the aged when due to a relaxed or paralyzed sphincter with feeble circulation. It is also a remedy for paralytic retention of urine. It is often of value in catarrh of the bladder. It is a remedy for uterine inertia, and is said to lessen the liability to post partum hemorrhage. Nux has long been used in sexual atony, as a remedy for impotence, spermatorrhoea, sexual frigidity in the female, etc. In amenorrhoea it serves well with iron if there is weakness, constipation, anemia and torpor.

When in dysmenorrhoea, the discharges are premature and associated with cramps and chilliness, or in menstrual colic with sharp, cramp-like pain and marked atony, nux vomica is the remedy to be used. Small doses benefit leucorrhoea with a heavy, yellow discharge, and great torpor of the system. Nux vomica has been praised in amblyopia when due to excessive use of tobacco or alcoholics, in nervous affections of the lids, and in muscular asthenopia (Foltz). Where atony of the general system contributes toward the aggravation of eye and ear disorders, nux should be administered. It often aids in the cure of conjunctivitis and phlyctenular keratitis. It is of some value in choroiditis. In purulent otitis media with general lack of tone, nux is the best remedy (Foltz). Nux vomica and its alkaloids should always be given with great care, the physician closely observing its effects.

The dose of powdered nux vomica is from ½ grain to 5 grains, three or four times a day, and gradually increased to 10, or until a slight influence is observed as indicated. Specific nux vomica, tincture, or alcoholic extract, are the best forms of administration. The extract may be given in doses of from 1/15 to 1/20 of a grain as a tonic; and in paralytic affections from ½ grain to 2 grains in the form of a pill, and, as with the powder, gradually increased. The saturated tincture may be given in doses of from 5 to 30 drops, likewise gradually increased. For specific uses, the usual prescription is: Rx Specific nux vomica, gtt. v to xv; aqua, fl℥iv. Mix. Sig. One teaspoonful every 1 to 3 hours, as indicated.

(For further consideration, see Strychninae Sulphas .) Specific Indications and Uses.—Atonic states; tongue pallid and expressionless, uncoated, or coated with a pasty-yellowish coat; yellowness of the conjunctiva; yellow or sallow countenance, and yellowish or sallow line around the mouth; fullness and dull pain in the right hypochondrium; pain in shoulder, colicky pains pointing to the umbilicus; menstrual colic; constipation; diarrhoea of atony; functional forms of paralysis. Related Species.—Strychnos malaccensis, Bentham (Strychnos Gaultheriana, Pierre), Hoàng-Nàn, Tropical bindweed. A climber of Malacca and neighboring isles, also of China. Its bark contains brucine and strychnine, the former preponderating. The drug closely resembles the latter alkaloid in action, producing in the inferior animals violent tetanic convulsions. In doses of 3 grains of the powdered bark, it has been employed in cases in which nux vomica is applicable.

Strychnos colubrina, Linné, yields true lignum colubrinum, often substituted in India for nux vomica branches. It contains strychnine and brucine. Strychnos potatorum, Linné, Clearing nuts, Indian gum nuts, Chilbinz.—India. The seeds of this species are subglobular, and of a brown-gray color. They are insipid in taste, and do not contain any alkaloid (Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assoc., 1893, p. 865), but an abundance of an albuminous body upon the presence of which their properties most likely depend. They are used in India to clear muddy water, and as an emetic, and in dysenteric disorders. Related entries: Curare Strychnos Tieute, Leschenault.—A climbing plant of Java. A decoction of the root-bark, mixed with onions, garlic, pepper, and other substances, constitutes the arrow poison upas tieute. Strychnine (about 1.5 percent) and very little brucine are the toxic principles contained in it.

The seeds are lighter in color, and smaller than those of nux vomica. The seeds and the leaves, according to Boorsma, also contain 1.4 per cent of strychnine. Akazga, Raja, M'Boundou, Quai, Ikaju, Icaja, Boundou.—According to Pecholier and Saint-Pierre, of France, this is believed to be a shrub of the family of Apocynaceae, which, as with some other plants of the same family (Nerium Oleander, Inee, etc.), is used in the preparation of a violent arrow poison. More recently, however, it was ascertained to be a Strychnos species, and the poison is now accepted to be derived from Strychnos Icaja, Baillon (1879). The root-bark is employed. It is intensely bitter, and feebly aromatic, and contains, according to Prof. T. R. Fraser, of Edinburgh, a crystallizable alkaloid which he has named akazgine.

Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen, in 1881, established the absence of brucine and the presence of strychnine, in Icaja poison. This is confirmed by the more recent researches of Gautret and Lautier (Jour. Pharm. Chim., 1896, p. 418), who also found that the active principle is chiefly contained in the bark of the root, and is also found in much smaller quantity in the leaves and the stems. According to Pecholier and Saint-Pierre, the bark of this shrub (Strychnos Icaja) is employed in infusion among the Africans on the Gabon as an ordeal liquid under the name of M'Boundou. The bark is macerated and the infusion given to the accused to drink, followed by certain proceedings; and if the accused can successfully pass the ordeal, he is deemed innocent of the charge against him. Its effect is to determine tetanic convulsions, with rapid death. Sometimes profuse urination occurs, and the person gradually returns to health and life.

From experiments on frogs, a dog, and rabbits, these gentlemen have concluded that the boundou contains a poisonous principle, soluble in water and in alcohol, which exerts an action upon the sensitive nervous system analogous to that caused by nux vomica. Administered by the stomach, or used endermically, this poison increases the number of inspirations and cardiac pulsations, succeeded by a great diminution of these movements; at the same time it causes an exaggeration of sensibility, followed by tetanic convulsions, and, finally, insensibility, paralysis, and death. Its action on the motor nervous system is only secondary, and it does not affect the contractility of the muscular system. It is not a poison to the heart, which, on the contrary, continues to pulsate for a long time after death (Montpelier Medical). IPOH.—At one time believed to be derived from Terris elliptica or Tuba root. The arrow-poison of the Malays and fish poison of Java. Its active constituent, an acid resin, dervid, is reputed intensely poisonous, gold-fish being stupefied by 1/5000000 part, death following in 30 minutes.

Recently (1892), Ipoh has been ascertained to be identical with Upas antiar, from Antiaris toxicaria (see Wray, Pharm. Jour. Trans., 1892, p. 613). The pygmies of Central Africa use an arrow-poison containing both strychnine and erythrophloeine (also see Arrow-poisons under Strophanthus ). Ɣ Hedwigia balsamifera.—Habitat, the Antilles. Contains a resin and an alkaloid. The extract from root and stems acts powerfully upon the nervous system. The alkaloid acts upon the spinal cord, inducing convulsions; the resin is a paralyzer. Hyaenanche globosa (Toxicodendron capense).—South Africa. Contains a powerfully poisonous, bitter, neutral principle hyananchine, acting much like strychnine, except that it markedly affects the cerebrum, the convulsions being of centric origin (see Engelhardt, Jahresb. der Pharm., 1892, p. 55).

Question: The seeds of the nux vomica tree contain which poison?
Answer: Strychnine