117 
The Seeds of Stkychnos Lucida, B.Br., and their Alk^veoid 
Content. 
9. -THE SEEDS OE STRYCIINOS LUCWA, R.Br., 
AND THEIR ALKALOID CONTENT. 
By E. M. Watson. 
Read : 11th March, 1941 ; Published : loth May, 1942. 
I 
Strycfinos lUcichu R. Br., which is the only representative of the genus 
recorded in W'estern Australia, is recorded by Gardner (1) as being common 
in Central Kimberley. The author is indebted to Rev. J. R. B. Love, form- 
erly of Kunmunya Mission, for collecting the fruits used in this investigation. 
It is an erect shrub, b to 1 5 feet in height. It bears orange-yellow fruits 
which are globular or ovoid-glolmlar in shape, u}> to about^ 25 mms. m diameter 
and containing one or more seeds. Those available for this work were 12 
to 15 mms. in diameter and were single seeded. The pericarp is brittle, hard 
and polished and is very sliglitly wrinkled and pitted ; it is about 0*5 mm. 
thick and is easily cracked. I’he [lulp, wliLch is milky-white in fresh fruits, 
dries to a dark tacky semi-solid which adheres to the seed. It is readily 
removed by soaking the seeds in cold water and then rubbing between the 
fingers. Tlie pulp has an intensely bitter taste and colour tests indicate tfiat 
it contains an ap]9rociable amount of brucine aiitl a much smaller amount 
of strychnine. 
The seeds are iypii^ally grey or greenisli-grey in coIoih, disc or Initton- 
sliaped, 10 to 13 mms. in diameter and about 3 mms. thick. They are gen- 
erally flat and regular in shape but ai'e occasLonally irregularly bent or oval 
in shape. The edge of the seed is rounded (or very occasionally acute) and 
shows a distinct raised inim’ojiyle wliicli is often connected by a ridge to the 
hilum. The testa is covered with ra.flially arranged, closely adpressed, silky, 
lignified hairs. TTie endosperm, which makes up practically the whole <if 
the seed, is horny and U'auslueeiit, and is yelkuv, greenish-yellow or greyish- 
yellow in colour. It coiisists of large thick walled cells and, when sectioned 
and treated witli nitric acid, sJiows the characteristic red colour given by 
brucine. When similarly treated with sodium vanadate in sulijlmnc acid 
solution, it give.s the violet colour characteristic of stryclmine. The intensity 
of this colour is ap|a'eciably less than that given by the seeds of Siryrhnoa 
mix vomica, iiKlicating a lower Btryohnino content, a fact borne out by sub- 
sec|uent analysis. The embryo is small and consists of two cordate, loaf-like 
cotyledons about 3 mms. long, wit li a cylindrical railiclc about 2 mms. long, 
directed towards the micropyle. I’he seeds are odom'loss Y'lien dry and have 
an intensely bitter taste. 
Macroscnpically the seeds differ from those of S. mix vomica in size only, 
whilst microscopically no obvious differences are aiDparent. 
On analysis, the seeds showed a strychnine content of 0*84 per cent, 
and a brucine content of I- 55 ]ier cent. The former figure is much lower 
than the average stiychniue content of mix vomica seeds (1*23 per cent.) 
or of St. Ignatius’ beans (1*5 per cent.), so that cuiumercial exploitation of 
S. luclda a[)pears unlikely as long as mix vomica is available. 
