Malpighiales, Myrtales, and Brassicales

Miconia calvescens

Miconia calvescens (velvet tree, purple plague), a Melastomataceae tree from Central and South America, is a notorious Pacific island invader that has overrun Tahiti's forests and is targeted by eradication programs in Hawaii, Australia, and New Caledonia.

Moringa (genus)

Moringa (murungai) is the sole genus of Moringaceae, 13 species of dry-tropical trees in Brassicales; M. oleifera, the drumstick tree, is grown for food, fodder, ben oil, and seed-based water coagulation.

Moringa oleifera

Moringa oleifera, the drumstick, horseradish, or ben oil tree, is a fast-growing Himalayan-native tree cultivated across the tropics for nutritious leaves, water-purifying seeds, ben oil, and traditional medicine; clinical evidence remains preliminary.

Moringaceae

Moringaceae, the horseradish tree family, is a conserved Brassicales family with one genus, Moringa Adans., of about 13 dry-tropical species native to Africa, Arabia, and India; Moringa oleifera is the widely cultivated drumstick tree.

Mustard plant

Mustard plant: Brassica juncea, B. nigra, B. rapa, and Sinapis alba, annual Brassicaceae herbs grown for pungent seeds, oil, and greens; pungency from myrosinase acting on glucosinolates to release allyl isothiocyanate.

Myrciaria

Myrciaria O.Berg is a genus of 47 accepted New World Myrtaceae shrubs and trees, native to tropical America with peak diversity in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, including jaboticaba and camu-camu fruit species.

Myrciaria dubia

Myrciaria dubia, camu-camu, is an Amazonian Myrtaceae shrub or small tree of flooded riverbanks across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, and Bolivia, with pulp containing 2.4-3.0 g vitamin C per 100 g; IUCN Least Concern.

Myrtaceae

Myrtaceae, the myrtle family (myrtle family, Myrtaceae Juss.), is a pantropical family of aromatic woody plants with about 140 genera and 5,500 species, including Eucalyptus, Syzygium, Eugenia, Psidium (guava) and Melaleuca, recognized by pellucid-dotted leaves and many stamens.

Myrtales

Myrtales (Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl, 1820), also called Epilobiales, is an order of eudicot flowering plants in the malvids with nine families, about 13,000 species, a Gondwanan origin, and major families Myrtaceae and Melastomataceae.

Myrtus

Myrtus is a small genus of aromatic Myrtaceae shrubs, type species Myrtus communis (common myrtle, arrayán, mirto), native Macaronesia to Pakistan; modern reviews recognize two species, M. communis and Saharan M. nivellei, used in medicine, food, and perfumery.

Myrtus communis

Myrtus communis (common myrtle), an evergreen Myrtaceae shrub native from Macaronesia to Pakistan, used in folk medicine and food; rich in essential oils and polyphenols, IUCN least concern, not yet a regulatory-approved drug.

Oak

Oak (Quercus, Fagaceae): about 425 species of acorn-bearing trees and shrubs of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, wind-pollinated, prone to hybridization yet genetically distinct, vital to wildlife and timber.

Ochnaceae

Ochnaceae DC. (including Medusagynaceae and Quiinaceae) is a conserved pantropical family of Malpighiales: about 500-550 species, 30-37 genera of evergreen trees and shrubs with stipules, yellow petals, and superior ovaries.

Oenothera

Oenothera (evening primroses) is a New World genus of about 140-156 herbaceous species in Onagraceae, famous as de Vries's mutation-theory plant, with biparental chloroplast inheritance, Renner complexes, and seed oil rich in gamma-linolenic acid.

Oenothera biennis

Oenothera biennis, the common evening primrose, is a biennial herb native to North America with bright yellow flowers that open at night, grown as the source of evening primrose oil.

Onagraceae

Onagraceae, the evening primrose family (Onagraceae Juss., nom. cons., 1789), a Myrtales family of about 650 species in 22-23 genera, mostly New World herbs and shrubs with 4-merous flowers, inferior ovaries, and viscin-threaded pollen; includes Oenothera, Fuchsia, Clarkia, Epilobium, Ludwigia.

Oxalidaceae

Oxalidaceae, the wood sorrel family (Oxalidales), is a nearly cosmopolitan flowering-plant family of 5 genera, Averrhoa, Biophytum, Dapania, Oxalis, and Sarcotheca, and roughly 570-800 species, including star fruit, bilimbi, and oca.

Oxalis

Oxalis, commonly known as wood sorrel, is a large genus of flowering plants with clover-like leaves, five-petaled flowers twisted in the bud, and tissues rich in oxalic acid.

Pando (tree)

Pando (Latin "I spread"), the trembling giant, is a single male quaking aspen clone in Fishlake National Forest, Utah: about 47,000 genetically identical stems across 106 acres, roughly 13 million pounds, and estimated 12,000–80,000 years old.

Papaya

Papaya (Carica papaya, pawpaw, fruta bomba) is a tropical Caricaceae fruit tree from Mesoamerica with XY/XYh sex chromosomes, papain-rich fruit, and PRSV-resistant transgenic Rainbow cultivars in Hawaii.

Parinari

Parinari is a pantropical genus of about 40 accepted species of trees and shrubs in Chrysobalanaceae, described by Aublet in 1775, marked by bilocular ovaries and hair-filled stomatal crypts, and known for the African mobola plum (P. curatellifolia).

Passiflora caerulea

Passiflora caerulea, blue passion flower or bluecrown passionflower, is a hardy South American passion vine climber with white flowers and blue-purple coronas, orange ornamental fruit, and wide use in hybrids and as rootstock.

Passiflora incarnata

Passiflora incarnata (purple passionflower, maypop) is a Passifloraceae vine native to central and eastern USA and Bermuda, used traditionally as a sedative; EU-registered for mild stress and sleep, with limited clinical evidence.

Pecan

Pecan (Carya illinoinensis), also called sweet pecan or Illinois nut, a North American hickory tree grown for its edible nut; US produces ~80% of world crop, 284 million lb in 2025, with LDL-lowering trial evidence.

Pelargonium

Pelargonium (geraniums, stork's-bill genus), a Geraniaceae genus of ca. 280 species mostly from southern Africa, with zygomorphic nectar-spurred flowers, four subgenera, and horticulturally important scented species like P. graveolens.

Pentadesma butyracea

Pentadesma butyracea (butter tree, tallow tree) is a West and Central African Clusiaceae tree up to 35 m whose seeds yield an edible butter rich in oleic and stearic acids, used in food, cosmetics, and traditional medicine.

Phyllanthaceae

Phyllanthaceae Martinov, the leaf-flower family, is a pantropical family of about 60 genera and 2,000 species in Malpighiales, segregated from Euphorbiaceae sensu lato since APG II (2003), with two ovules per locule, no latex, and Phyllanthus as its largest genus.

Phyllanthus amarus

Phyllanthus amarus (Bhumyamalaki, stone breaker) is a pantropical annual herb, native to the Americas, used in Ayurveda for liver disorders; marker lignans phyllanthin and hypophyllanthin; often confused with P. niruri; Cochrane finds no convincing HBV benefit.

Phyllanthus emblica

Phyllanthus emblica (syn. Emblica officinalis), Indian gooseberry or amla, an Asian Phyllanthaceae tree whose vitamin C-rich fruit is used in Ayurveda and shows lipid-lowering effects in randomized trials.