Monkey orange (green monkey orange)

Strychnos spinosa

When: Typically November – April — November, December, January, February, March, April. Earlier in warm, low country; later in the hills.
Where it grows: Dry woodland, bushveld, sandy riverbanks, sand forest and coastal bush from sea level to about 1,800 m; the fruit comes after good rains.
How to know it: A small, often spiny tree with opposite, rounded, glossy leaves showing three to five veins running from the base. The fruit is large, round and hard, with a woody shell that turns from green (often speckled) to yellow as it ripens; inside, many hard brown seeds packed in sweet-sour, brown, edible pulp.
Look-alikes: Several monkey oranges share the woodland. The spine-leaved monkey orange (S. pungens) and corky-bark monkey orange (S. cocculoides) are eaten too. Strychnos is the genus of strychnine, though, so eat only the ripe pulp of a tree someone has shown you.
Harvest and use: Crack a ripe, yellow fruit and eat the pulp off the seeds, or mash it with water for juice. Green fruit can be picked and left to ripen: the Basarwa (San) of Botswana bury it in sand for months, and it comes out juicy and golden. Spit the seeds out — don't chew them.
Caution: The seeds and unripe fruit are poisonous; unripe flesh causes vomiting. Eat only the pulp of fully yellow fruit.

Monkey orange (green monkey orange) at a glance

Also called: Natal orange, spiny monkey orange, elephant orange; mokotra (Madagascar), mtonga (Swahili), mzimbili (Nyanja)
Family: Loganiaceae (the strychnine family)
Where it grows: Tropical and subtropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to the Eastern Cape: bushveld, riverine fringes, sand forest and coastal bush in KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Zambia, northern Botswana, northern Namibia and Angola, East Africa from coastal Kenya inland, and parts of Madagascar.
When to pick: The fruit takes a long time to ripen and hangs on the tree for months; big crops follow good rains. In southern Africa the tree flowers from September to February, and in Zimbabwe and Botswana monkey oranges are mostly harvested and sold from about September to December. Seasons vary widely: in Kenya, fruit comes in August around Kitui and in January–February on the coast. Ripe fruit is yellow.
Parts used: The sweet-sour pulp around the seeds, fresh, juiced or dried. The hard shells are used as sound boxes for musical instruments. Never the seeds or unripe fruit.
Is any of it poisonous?: The seeds and unripe fruit are toxic. SANBI warns that the seeds may be poisonous or purgative, and ICRAF that the seeds are toxic and unripe fruit poisonous; the unripe flesh is said to cause vomiting. The slippery seeds are easy to swallow whole by accident and usually pass through, but never chew or crush them.

Questions people ask about monkey orange

Are monkey orange seeds poisonous?

Treat them as poisonous. SANBI and ICRAF both warn that the seeds are toxic, and unripe fruit too; eat only the pulp of ripe fruit and spit the seeds out.

How do you know a monkey orange is ripe?

The hard shell turns from green, often speckled with white, to yellow or orange, and the pulp inside is soft, brown and sweet-sour. Green fruit can be picked and kept, or buried, to ripen.

Why do people bury monkey oranges?

To ripen and store them. The Basarwa (San) of Botswana pick green fruit and bury it in sand for several months; the hard shell keeps out rot and fruit flies, and as long as it isn't cracked the fruit comes out juicy and golden.

What does monkey orange taste like?

Sweet and sour: descriptions range from a mix of citrus and pineapple to a lightly fermented, tart apple.

Found in these regions

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Has a dangerous look-alike
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How to know it & its look-alikes →
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Checked against these sources · last reviewed October 2026

Seasons are typical for the middle of the range and move by weeks north and south, and up and down hills.

Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.

Monkey orange (green monkey orange)

Strychnos spinosa

When

Typically November – April — November, December, January, February, March, April. Earlier in warm, low country; later in the hills.

Where it grows

Dry woodland, bushveld, sandy riverbanks, sand forest and coastal bush from sea level to about 1,800 m; the fruit comes after good rains.

How to know it

A small, often spiny tree with opposite, rounded, glossy leaves showing three to five veins running from the base. The fruit is large, round and hard, with a woody shell that turns from green (often speckled) to yellow as it ripens; inside, many hard brown seeds packed in sweet-sour, brown, edible pulp.

Look-alikes

Several monkey oranges share the woodland. The spine-leaved monkey orange (S. pungens) and corky-bark monkey orange (S. cocculoides) are eaten too. Strychnos is the genus of strychnine, though, so eat only the ripe pulp of a tree someone has shown you.

Harvest and use

Crack a ripe, yellow fruit and eat the pulp off the seeds, or mash it with water for juice. Green fruit can be picked and left to ripen: the Basarwa (San) of Botswana bury it in sand for months, and it comes out juicy and golden. Spit the seeds out — don't chew them.

Caution

The seeds and unripe fruit are poisonous; unripe flesh causes vomiting. Eat only the pulp of fully yellow fruit.

Monkey orange (green monkey orange) at a glance

Also called

Natal orange, spiny monkey orange, elephant orange; mokotra (Madagascar), mtonga (Swahili), mzimbili (Nyanja)

Family

Loganiaceae (the strychnine family)

Where it grows

Tropical and subtropical Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to the Eastern Cape: bushveld, riverine fringes, sand forest and coastal bush in KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Zambia, northern Botswana, northern Namibia and Angola, East Africa from coastal Kenya inland, and parts of Madagascar.

When to pick

The fruit takes a long time to ripen and hangs on the tree for months; big crops follow good rains. In southern Africa the tree flowers from September to February, and in Zimbabwe and Botswana monkey oranges are mostly harvested and sold from about September to December. Seasons vary widely: in Kenya, fruit comes in August around Kitui and in January–February on the coast. Ripe fruit is yellow.

Parts used

The sweet-sour pulp around the seeds, fresh, juiced or dried. The hard shells are used as sound boxes for musical instruments. Never the seeds or unripe fruit.

Is any of it poisonous?

The seeds and unripe fruit are toxic. SANBI warns that the seeds may be poisonous or purgative, and ICRAF that the seeds are toxic and unripe fruit poisonous; the unripe flesh is said to cause vomiting. The slippery seeds are easy to swallow whole by accident and usually pass through, but never chew or crush them.

Questions people ask about monkey orange