Acokanthera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. It comprises 5 species and is generally restricted to Africa, although A. schimperi also occurs in Yemen.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Its sap contains the deadly toxin ouabain, a glycoside that causes heart failure. The sap is among the most commonly used in arrow poisons,Schmelzer, G.H. & Gurib-Fakim, A. (Editors), 2008. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 11(1). Medicinal plants 1. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen, Netherlands / Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, Netherlands / CTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. 791 pp. including those used for poaching elephants.
The poison it contains works by stopping the heart, like most other arrow poisons. Species Acokanthera laevigata Kupicha - Tanzania, Malawi Acokanthera oblongifolia (Hochst.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex B.D.Jacks. - Mozambique, South Africa Acokanthera oppositifolia (Lam.) Codd - widespread from Cape Province north to Zaire and Tanzania Acokanthera rotundata (Codd) Kupicha - Zimbabwe, Eswatini, eastern South Africa Acokanthera schimperi (A.DC.) Schweinf. - Yemen, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Socotra, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zaire
References