Anomospermum

Strychnos is the only genus of the Loganiaceae whose species are involved in the making of curare (Table 1.1). On the other hand, representatives of several genera of Menispermaceae have been utilized—not only species of Chondrodendron and Curarea, which are known to be active, but also species of Sciadotenia, Abuta, Anomospermum, Telitoxicum, as well as Cissampelos (Table 1.2) there is a dearth of information about the activity of these latter genera. 

The genus differs little from Telitoxicum in its fruit characters, but is readily distinguished by the apetalous staminate flowers and penninerved leaf blades. Details of the fruit structure and the apetalous flowers serve to differentiate it from Anomospermum. The fruit pericarp in Abuta is dry and firm. In some species, e.g. A. imene and A. sandwithiana, there is a considerable amount of pulpy mesocarp (140). 

A small group of taxa formerly placed with Anomospermum but which exhibit major differences in the structure of their fruits has been removed to the new... 

De Lacerda [394] received bark from the same locality where Schwacke had seen the Tikuna preparing curare. He accepted Schwacke s identification of the plant as Anomospermum grandifolium. In experiments on various animals, extracts of the material were shown to have the typical paralysing activity of curare. As explained by Krukoff and Moldenke [139 p. 73], the plant concerned was probably Chondrodendron limaciifolium, i.e. Cur area tecunarum. 

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