Toxicophlaea
(from toxicon, poison, and phloros, bark; in allusion to the poisonous rind). SYN. Acokanthera. ORD. Apocynaceae. A small genus (hree species) of very poisonous, tall, greenhouse shrubs or small trees; two are natives of South Africa, and the third is Abyssinian. Flowers white, or pink on the outside, odorous; calyx five-parted, eglandular; corolla salver-shaped, with a cylindrical tube and five twisted lobes; cymes sub-racemose, dense, sub-sessile in the axils. Berry globose, one or two-seeded. Leaves opposite, thickly coriaceous, obliquely penniveined.
The two introduced species thrive in a light, rich soil, with an occasional watering of weak liquid manure. Cuttings root readily under a hand glass, in moderate heat.
T. cestroides (Cestrum-like). A synonym of T. Thunbergii. T. spectabilis (showy).* Wintersweet. fl. white, in terminal and axillary corymbs, which form a very large, dense spray, frequently over 2ft. in length; perfume sweet and powerful. Spring. l. elliptic. h. 4ft. to 6ft. South Africa, 1872. (G. C. 1872, 363; Gn. July, 1877; R. H. 1879, 270.) T. Thunbergii (Thunberg's). fl. yellowish, tipped with brown, expanding in the afternoon; corymbs sessile, axillary, usually eight flowered. February to April. l. lanceolate-oblong, coriaceous. h. 6ft. to 7ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1787. The correct name of this plant is now Acokanthera venenata. (I. II. 1885, 543.) SYN. T. cestroides (R. G. 940; R. H. 1880, 370).