Calabar bean

noun

1. the violently poisonous seed of an African climbing plant, Physostigma venenosum, of the legume family, the active principle of which is physostigmine.

Calabar bean

/ ˈkæləˌbɑː; ˌkæləˈbɑː /

noun

1. the dark brown very poisonous seed of a leguminous woody climbing plant, Physostigma venenosum of tropical Africa, used as a source of the drug physostigmine

Word History and Origins

Origin of Calabar bean¹

1875–80; named after Calabar, Nigeria