593 articles
Sandalwood
Sandalwood, chiefly Santalum album (Indian sandalwood), is a hemiparasitic tree whose fragrant heartwood oil, rich in santalols, is used in perfume, incense, and carving; IUCN lists it vulnerable, with Australia now a leading supplier.
Santalum album
Santalum album, Indian sandalwood or chandan, is a Vulnerable hemiparasitic Santalaceae tree native to India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and northern Australia, prized for heartwood oil (6–10%, santalols) used in perfumery and carving.
Sapotaceae
Sapotaceae, the sapodilla family (Sapotaceae Juss., 1789), is a pantropical family of latex-bearing trees and shrubs in Ericales with about 65-75 genera and 1,300 species, including Pouteria, Chrysophyllum, and Manilkara, sources of chicle, gutta-percha, and tropical fruits.
Satureja
Satureja (savory) is a Lamiaceae genus of aromatic Mediterranean-to-Central-Asian herbs including summer savory (S. hortensis) and winter savory (S. montana), rich in thymol and carvacrol essential oils used culinarily and medicinally.
Scabiosa
Scabiosa (scabious, pincushion flower) is a Caprifoliaceae genus of about 67-100 species native to Eurasia, Macaronesia, North Africa, and southern Africa, sister to Sixalix, with pincushion flower heads and iridoid-rich chemistry.
Scaevola
Scaevola, also called fan flower or naupaka, is a genus of about 100-130 Goodeniaceae shrubs with half-shaped fan flowers and drupes; Australian in origin, Pacific-radiated, with S. taccada invasive in Florida.
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.
Scutellaria baicalensis
Scutellaria baicalensis (Huangqin, Chinese or Baikal skullcap), a Lamiaceae perennial herb of Siberia to Vietnam; its dried root, rich in baicalin and baicalein, is a major traditional Chinese medicine with limited human clinical evidence.
Senecio retrorsus
Senecio retrorsus DC., also called Grass Stagger's Weed or Dunsiektebossie, is a pyrrolizidine-alkaloid-containing ragwort in Asteraceae native from Zimbabwe to South Africa, poisonous to livestock and assessed Least Concern by SANBI.
Senecio vulgaris
Senecio vulgaris, common groundsel or old-man-in-the-spring, is a petal-less-flowered annual Asteraceae weed native from Macaronesia to China, toxic from pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and the first weed found resistant to triazine herbicides.
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.
Sideritis
Sideritis (ironwort, Greek mountain tea, τσάι του βουνού) is a Lamiaceae genus of 148 species from Europe to China; four species hold an EU traditional herbal monograph for cough, cold, and mild gastrointestinal complaints.
Silybum marianum
Silybum marianum (milk thistle, Mary thistle, holy thistle) is a Mediterranean Asteraceae herb, 1-2 m tall with purple flower heads, whose seed extract silymarin is a widely used but clinically unproven liver supplement.
Sison
Sison L. is a genus of three accepted Apiaceae species, including stone-parsley (Sison amomum), native from western and southern central Europe to the Mediterranean, with seeds used as flavoring.
Solanaceae
Solanaceae, the nightshade family (nightshades), is a Solanales plant family of 103 genera and about 3,000 species, most diverse in the Neotropics; it includes potato, tomato, pepper, tobacco, and Petunia, with almost half its species in Solanum.
Solanales
Solanales, an order of lamiid flowering plants with five families (Solanaceae, Convolvulaceae, Hydroleaceae, Montiniaceae, Sphenocleaceae), about 165 genera and 3,945 species, including potato, tomato, eggplant, and morning glories.
Solanine
Solanine (α-solanine, CAS 20562-02-1) is a toxic steroidal glycoalkaloid of nightshade plants, mainly potatoes, with a solanidine aglycone; acute LOAEL 1 mg/kg body weight, heat-stable, concentrated in peel, sprouts, and green tissue.
Solanum
Solanum (nightshades) is the largest genus of Solanaceae, about 1,200-1,400 species, cosmopolitan, originating in South America; includes potato, tomato, and eggplant, divided into 13 clades.
Solanum aethiopicum
Solanum aethiopicum, African or scarlet eggplant, garden eggs, bitter tomato: a Solanaceae cultigen domesticated in northeast Africa from Solanum anguivi, with Gilo, Shum, Kumba, and Aculeatum cultivar groups, grown across sub-Saharan Africa for fruits and leaves.
Solanum aviculare
Solanum aviculare (poroporo, kangaroo apple) is a diploid (2n=46) Solanum shrub native to New Zealand, eastern Australia, and New Guinea, with mauve flowers and orange berries, cultivated for solasodine steroid precursors and distinct from the tetraploid S. laciniatum.
Solanum dulcamara
Solanum dulcamara, bittersweet or woody nightshade, a toxic Solanaceae vine native to Eurasia and North Africa, invasive in North America, with red glycoalkaloid berries and EU-approved stem preparations for mild eczema.
Solanum nigrum
Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) is a hexaploid Solanaceae herb native from Europe to temperate East Asia and tropical Africa, with white flowers, dull black berries, solanine glycoalkaloids, and long use in TCM and as cooked food.
Solanum sessiliflorum
Solanum sessiliflorum, cocona, cubiu, topiro, Orinoco apple, or peach tomato: an Amazonian Solanaceae fruit crop native to western Amazonia, grown at 200–1000 m, rich in vitamin C, iron, and bioactive flavonoids, used for juices, jams, and medicine.
Solanum torvum
Solanum torvum, turkey berry, devil's fig, pea eggplant: a prickly Solanaceae shrub native from Mexico to South America and the Caribbean, naturalized pantropically, grown for small edible berries, traditional medicine, and eggplant rootstock.
Solidago
Solidago (goldenrod), Asteraceae genus of about 140 species mostly native to North America; S. canadensis, S. gigantea, S. altissima are invasive in Europe and Asia; S. virgaurea is a medicinal herb.
Solidago virgaurea
Solidago virgaurea L., European goldenrod, is a perennial Asteraceae herb native from western Europe to Central Siberia and Luzon, type species of Solidago, used as Solidaginis virgaureae herba for urinary tract conditions.
Soliva
Soliva Ruiz & Pav. (burrweed, onehunga weed) is a small Asteraceae genus in tribe Anthemideae, native Mexico to South America, with about 6 species; Soliva sessilis is a spiny-fruited lawn burweed naturalized worldwide.
Sonchus
Sonchus (sow thistles), genus of about 98-99 Asteraceae species in tribe Cichorieae, native Old World to Australia and Pacific islands; wild greens, medicines, fodder, and major weeds such as S. oleraceus.