112 articles
Acalypha
Acalypha (copperleaf) is a pantropical genus of about 432 accepted species in Euphorbiaceae, described by Linnaeus in 1753, with 8-stamen male flowers, fringed styles, and medicinal and ornamental species such as A. hispida.
Acalypha indica
Acalypha indica L. (Indian acalypha, Indian copperleaf, kuppa meni) is an annual Euphorbiaceae herb native from Eritrea to South Africa and Arabia to tropical Asia, a medicinal weed whose ingestion can cause hemolysis and methemoglobinemia.
Aleurites moluccanus
Aleurites moluccanus, the candlenut tree (kukui, kemiri, 石栗), is an Euphorbiaceae tree native from tropical Asia to the western Pacific, grown for oil-rich seeds used as food, medicine, candles, and biodiesel; invasive in Pacific islands.
Aspen
Aspen, chiefly quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), is North America's most widely distributed tree, a clonal species regenerating by root suckering and seed, valued for biodiversity and acting as a natural wildfire firebreak.
Averrhoa bilimbi
Averrhoa bilimbi, or tree sorrel, is a small tropical tree in the Oxalidaceae family, native to Malesia and grown for its extremely sour, cucumber-shaped fruit used in cooking.
Banisteriopsis
Banisteriopsis (ayahuasca vine genus, Malpighiaceae), lianas and shrubs from Mexico to tropical South America; 65 accepted species including Banisteriopsis caapi, the principal component of Ayahuasca tea; Miocene origin about 22 million years ago.
Banisteriopsis caapi
Banisteriopsis caapi (ayahuasca, yagé, caapi) is an Amazonian Malpighiaceae liana containing the β-carboline alkaloids harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine, MAO inhibitors that make DMT orally active in ayahuasca brews.
Bixa orellana
Bixa orellana, known as annatto, achiote, or the lipstick tree, is a tropical American shrub whose seed coats yield annatto, an orange-red natural food colorant.
Calophyllaceae
Calophyllaceae, a pantropical family of flowering plants in Malpighiales split from Clusiaceae in APG III (2009), with 13 genera including Calophyllum, Kielmeyera, Mammea, and Mesua, secretory ducts, and coumarin chemistry.
Calophyllum
Calophyllum (beautiful leaf, Greek kalos + phyllon) is a Calophyllaceae genus of about 200 tropical evergreen tree species centered on Borneo; source of calanolide A anti-HIV lead and tamanu biodiesel oil.
Calophyllum antillanum
Calophyllum antillanum (galba, Santa Maria, calaba) is a Caribbean Calophyllaceae tree, treated by Kew as C. brasiliense var. antillanum; native to Central America and the West Indies, used for timber and shade, invasive in south Florida and Hawaii.
Calophyllum inophyllum
Calophyllum inophyllum (Alexandrian laurel, tamanu, mastwood, nyamplung) is a coastal tropical tree of Calophyllaceae from East Africa to the Pacific, valued for shipbuilding timber, tamanu seed oil, medicine, and biodiesel.
Caryocar
Caryocar (pequi trees) is a genus of 16 Neotropical tree species in Caryocaraceae, Malpighiales, native to Tropical America; C. brasiliense yields pequi fruit and oil rich in oleic acid.
Caryocar costaricense
Caryocar costaricense (ajo, ajillo, manú) is an endangered Central American timber tree of Caryocaraceae, the family's only Central American species, native to Costa Rica and adjacent Panama, with garlic-scented yellow flowers and CITES Appendix II listing.
Cassava
Cassava (Manihot esculenta, yuca, manioc, tapioca) is a drought-tolerant Euphorbiaceae root crop from the Americas feeding ~800 million people; cyanogenic roots need processing; major diseases CMD and CBSD; used for starch and bioethanol.
Chrysobalanaceae
Chrysobalanaceae (cocoa plum family), pantropical trees and shrubs in Malpighiales, about 500 species, mostly Neotropical; gynobasic style, drupaceous fruit, silica-rich wood; formerly placed in Rosaceae.
Clusia
Clusia (attorney) is a Neotropical genus of about 250-310 Clusiaceae trees and shrubs with leathery leaves and latex, the only dicotyledonous tree genus with CAM photosynthesis species.
Clusiaceae
Clusiaceae, commonly called the mangosteen family and alternatively known as Guttiferae, is a family of pantropical flowering plants in the order Malpighiales, named by John Lindley in 1836.
Cnidoscolus
Cnidoscolus (spurge nettle, chaya) is an American Euphorbiaceae genus of about 93–99 stinging-haired species centered in Mexico and Brazil, used in folk medicine and as the leafy vegetable chaya, which must be boiled to remove cyanogenic glycosides.
Coca
Coca (Erythroxylum coca, E. novogranatense; Spanish coca, 古柯) is a South American shrub whose cocaine-bearing leaves have been chewed for 8,000 years; four cultivated varieties contain 0.11-1.02% cocaine.
Codiaeum variegatum
Codiaeum variegatum, the garden croton (garden croton, fire croton, Joseph's Coat), is an Euphorbiaceae shrub native from Malesia to the SW Pacific, grown for variegated foliage in over 300 cultivars; mildly toxic sap, IUCN least concern.
Croton (plant)
Croton (plant): large Euphorbiaceae genus published by Linnaeus in 1753, about 1,100–1,300 species, mostly Neotropical; diterpenoid-rich, medicinal, and often confused with the ornamental Codiaeum variegatum.
Croton lechleri
Croton lechleri (sangre de grado, dragon's blood) is a South American Euphorbiaceae tree whose red latex yields crofelemer (Mytesi), an FDA-approved antidiarrheal for HIV/AIDS patients.
Erythroxylum
Erythroxylum (coca genus) is a pantropical genus of about 200-270 trees and shrubs in Erythroxylaceae, Malpighiales; includes Erythroxylum coca and E. novogranatense, source of cocaine, with intrapetiolar stipules and 10 fused stamens.
Euphorbia
Euphorbia (spurges) is a cosmopolitan genus of Euphorbiaceae, one of the largest plant genera with roughly 1,200 to over 2,000 species, defined by milky toxic latex and the cyathium inflorescence, with four subgenera and wide medicinal use.
Euphorbia antisyphilitica
Euphorbia antisyphilitica, commonly known as candelilla, is a semisucculent shrub of the spurge family native to the southern United States and Mexico and the source of candelilla wax.
Euphorbia heterophylla
Euphorbia heterophylla (wild poinsettia, Mexican fireplant, milkweed) is an annual latex-bearing Euphorbiaceae herb native to tropical America, now a pantropical soybean and maize weed with documented ALS, glyphosate, and PPO herbicide resistance.
Euphorbia hirta
Euphorbia hirta (asthma plant, tawa-tawa), an annual Euphorbiaceae herb native to tropical America, used in traditional medicine for asthma, diarrhea, and dengue; pharmacology remains preclinical.
Euphorbia milii
Euphorbia milii, crown of thorns or Christ plant, is a spiny semisucculent Madagascan shrub in Euphorbiaceae grown for red, pink, white, or yellow bracts; its toxic latex causes dermatitis and eye injury, and its diterpenoids show molluscicidal and pharmacological activity.
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae Juss., 1789), is a Malpighiales family of about 230 genera and 6,500+ species with unisexual flowers, latex, and the unique cyathium; includes Hevea rubber, cassava, and castor oil plants.