Tabernaemontana ventricosa

Tabernaemontana ventricosa (commonly known as forest toad-tree or small-fruited toad-tree ) is a plant in the family Apocynaceae. It grows as a shrub or small tree up to 15 m tall, with a trunk diameter of up to 30 cm and has white sap. Leaves are paired (set opposite each other) and crowded near the ends of branches. They are oblong, leathery and a glossy dark green. Flowers are fragrant with white, somewhat twisted lobes, often with a pale yellow center and are set in small clusters at the ends of branches. The fruit is dark green, set in spreading pairs of ellipsoids or oval, beaked pods, up to 10 cm in diameter. Its habitat is forests from sea level to 1850 m altitude. In Zimbabwe, it is usually found as part of the understorey of evergreen forests. Local medicinal uses include the treatment of wounds, fever and hypertension. The plant is native to tropical central and southern Africa.