calabar bean

Noun

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

dark brown highly poisonous seed of the calabar-bean vine; source of physostigmine and used in native witchcraftSynonyms: calabar bean ordeal bean

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Calabar \Cal"a*bar\, n. A district on the west coast of Africa. [1913 Webster]

Calabar bean, The of a climbing legumious plant (Physostigma venenosum), a native of tropical Africa. It is highly poisonous. It is used to produce contraction of the pupil of the eye; also in tetanus, neuralgia, and rheumatic diseases; -- called also ordeal bean, being used by the negroes in trials for witchcraft. [1913 Webster]