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Botanical  Name: Strychnos Ignatii (BERG.)
Family: N.O. Loganiaceae
Synonyms: Faba Ignatic. Ignatia amara (Linn.).
Common Names:Ignatius Bean,St. Ignatius Bean
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Gentianales
Genus: Strychnos
Species: S. ignatia

Other Names:Ignatia, Ignatia amara, Ignatius bean, Lu Song Guo, St. Ignatius bean, Strychnos ignatia
Part Used: Ripe dried seeds.
Habitat: Ignatius beans are found throughout southeast Asia and are especially common in the Philippines and in Vietnam.

Description:Ignatius Beans is a plant named for Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit missionary order.  Ignatius bean is a climbing shrub or small tree that reaches lengths of more than 60 feet.It is introduced into Cochin China, and highly esteemed there as a medicine. It attracted the attention of the Jesuits, hence its name. In commerce the beans are about one full inch long; ovate, a dull blacky brown colour, very hard and horny, covered in patches with silvery adpressed hairs; endosperm translucent, enclosing an irregular cavity with an oblong embryo; no odour; taste extremely bitter. Each fruit contains about twelve to twenty seeds embedded in the pulp from which they have to be separated.

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Its flowers are greenish white and covered with small silky hairs. The fruit, which grows as wide as five inches, contains yellow pulp and as many as 40 hard, oval seeds.

Uses:
Filipinos traditionally wore the seeds of the Ignatius bean as amulets to protect themselves from disease. Jesuits brought the plant from the Philippines to Europe in the 17th century and, it is believed, named it ignatia, or St. Ignatius bean, after the founder of the Jesuit order, Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The fruit has been called monkey apple because monkeys sometimes eat it. In Java and Malaysia the seeds were extracted and used as dart poisons for blowguns and in curare.

Ignatius beans were frequently used as a cheap strychnine substitute for Strychnos nux vomica, because they have similar actions and alkaloidal composition. Once recommended as a remedy for cholera, Ignatius bean is used to treat fever and acute emotional and mental afflictions such as hysteria, insomnia, and depression. Ignatius beans are used chiefly as a homeopathic remedy, administered in very small doses because of extreme toxicity. Improper dosage-internal consumption of as little as a fraction of an ounce – can result in muscle spasms and painful convulsions and even death by asphyxiation.

Constituents: The beans have the same properties as Nux Vomica, but contain more strychnine, also brucine, a volatile principle extractive, gum, resin, colouring matter, a fixed oil, and bassorin; they contain no albumen or starch.

Ignatia is derived from the bean of a tree in the Loganiaceae family native to the Philippines and parts of China. The fruit of the tree Strychnos ignatii is the size and shape of a pear and has almond-like seeds, also known as Saint Ignatius’ beans.

Medicinal Action and Uses: Tonic and stimulant in action like Nux Vomica, which, being cheaper, is nearly always used as a substitute. Old writers lauded these beans as a remedy against cholera. They are useful in certain forms of heart trouble, but must be used with the greatest caution, as they are a very active and powerful poison.

Antidotes: Same as for strychnine, chloroform, belladonna, aconite, tobacco, chloral hydrate 1 drachm doses, morphia.

Preparations and Dosages; Tincture of Ignatia, 5 to 20 minims. Alkaline Tincture of Ignatia (syn. Goute Ameres de Beaume), 5 to 20 minims.

Click to get more information about medicinal uses of Ignatius Beans:

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider .

Resourcs:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/i/ignati02.html

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strychnos_ignatii

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strychnos_ignatia

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_ignatius_bean.htm

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