Calabar bean
noun
the violently poisonous seed of an African climbing plant, Physostigma venenosum, of the legume family, the active principle of which is physostigmine.
Also called
ordeal bean.
Origin of Calabar bean
1875–80; named after
Calabar, Nigeria
British Dictionary definitions for calabar bean
Calabar bean
/ (ˌkæləˈbɑː, ˈkæləˌbɑː) /
noun
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