112 articles
Rehmannia glutinosa
Rehmannia glutinosa (地黄, dihuang, Chinese foxglove) is a Chinese perennial herb whose tuberous root, used fresh, dried, or steamed, is a major traditional medicine; over 310 constituents including catalpol are documented.
Richardia brasiliensis
Richardia brasiliensis (tropical Mexican clover, Brazil pusley), a prostrate Rubiaceae herb native from Ecuador to northern Argentina, naturalized as a weed of turf, soybean, and corn across Florida, Australia, Asia, and Africa.
Rubia
Rubia (madder), Old World Rubiaceae genus of about 80-87 species including R. tinctorum and R. cordifolia; roots yield alizarin and purpurin red dyes used since antiquity and in traditional medicine.
Rubia tinctorum
Rubia tinctorum (dyer's madder), a Rubiaceae perennial native from SE Europe to Xinjiang, whose alizarin- and purpurin-rich roots have dyed textiles red since 2000 BC; synthetic alizarin (1868) largely replaced it.
Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae, the coffee or madder family (Gentianales), is the fourth-largest angiosperm family with about 586 accepted genera and over 14,000 species, defined by interpetiolar stipules and inferior ovaries; includes Coffea, Cinchona, Gardenia, and Psychotria.
Scrophularia
Scrophularia (figworts) is a genus of about 250-292 species in Scrophulariaceae, native to temperate Eurasia, Macaronesia, Africa, and North America; S. ningpoensis (Xuanshen) is a major traditional Chinese medicine root rich in iridoids.
Scrophulariaceae
Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family (Lamiales), once the order's largest family with over 5,000 species, was found polyphyletic in 1995; its genera now span seven families, leaving 59 genera and about 1,880 species.
Sesame
Sesame (Sesamum indicum, syn. S. orientale), an annual Pedaliaceae oilseed domesticated in India, grown for seeds with 45–60% rancidity-resistant oil rich in sesamin lignans; Sudan leads production.
Sesamum
Sesamum is a genus of about 31 Pedaliaceae herbs native from tropical Africa and Asia to Australia; its type species Sesamum indicum is sesame, the ancient oilseed crop with 45-60% seed oil.
Spermacoce alata
Spermacoce alata Aubl. (syn. Borreria alata, S. latifolia), broadleaf buttonweed, a Rubiaceae herb native from Colombia to northern South America and W. Brazil, naturalized weed and medicinal plant in Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
Streptocarpus
Streptocarpus (Cape primrose), genus of ~160 African and Madagascan herbs in Gesneriaceae, type species S. rexii (1828); since 2015 includes African violets (Saintpaulia), with twisted capsules and major horticultural importance.
Streptocarpus ionanthus
Streptocarpus ionanthus, the African violet (formerly Saintpaulia ionantha), is a lithophytic Gesneriaceae herb native to Kenya and Tanzania, divided into nine subspecies, widely cultivated as an ornamental houseplant.
Striga hermonthica
Striga hermonthica (purple witchweed), Orobanchaceae hemiparasitic annual weed native to Africa, parasitizes maize, sorghum, and millets via strigolactone-triggered germination and haustoria, causing 30–80% cereal yield losses across sub-Saharan Africa.
Symphytum
Symphytum (comfrey), Boraginaceae genus of about 34-40 perennial herbs native to Europe and W. Asia; knitbone topical remedy for sprains and bruises, but contains hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids limiting use.
Tabebuia
Tabebuia Gomes ex DC. is a genus of 74 accepted Bignoniaceae trees native from Mexico to tropical America; once broadly circumscribed, it was split in 2007 into Tabebuia, Handroanthus, and Roseodendron.
Tecoma
Tecoma is a genus of Bignoniaceae shrubs and small trees native to tropical and subtropical America, best known for Tecoma stans (yellow bells), a medicinal and ornamental plant that is invasive in several regions.
Uncaria
Uncaria (gouteng, cat's claw) is a pantropical genus of about 38 climbing Rubiaceae lianas with claw-like hooks, rich in indole alkaloids and widely used in traditional medicine.
Uncaria gambir
Uncaria gambir (gambier, pale catechu) is a climbing Rubiaceae shrub native to western Malesia, cultivated in Indonesia and Malaysia; its leaf-and-twig extract is used for betel chewing, tanning, and traditional medicine.
Utricularia
Utricularia (bladderworts), largest carnivorous plant genus with 288 accepted species in Lentibulariaceae; rootless plants with millisecond suction bladder traps, cosmopolitan distribution, and dynamic 60-1500 Mb genomes.
Verbascum thapsus
Verbascum thapsus, common or great mullein, woolly mullein, aaron's-rod: a biennial Scrophulariaceae herb native from Europe to the Himalaya, naturalized across North America and Japan, with fuzzy rosette leaves and tall yellow flower spikes.
Verbena
Verbena (vervain) is a Verbenaceae genus of about 250-350 species, mostly American, established by Linnaeus in 1753 with type V. officinalis; includes medicinal common vervain and ornamental tall verbena V. bonariensis.
Veronica
Veronica (speedwell) is a genus of about 450 species of herbs and shrubs in Plantaginaceae, order Lamiales, cosmopolitan mainly in temperate Northern Hemisphere regions, with four-lobed corollas, two stamens, and iridoid glucoside chemistry.