881 articles
Mercurialis
Mercurialis (annual mercury, dog's mercury) is a genus of about 10 dioecious herbaceous Euphorbiaceae species native from Macaronesia and Europe to the Himalaya, type species M. annua, used in traditional medicine but toxic when fresh.
Mercurialis perennis
Mercurialis perennis, dog's mercury, a dioecious clonal perennial herb of European woodlands and ancient-woodland indicator; spreads mainly by rhizomes, toxic, pH 4.3–8.5, common in Britain.
Mespilus germanica
Mespilus germanica, the common medlar, is a small rose-family tree grown for brown fruits that become sweet only after bletting, native from the Caucasus to Iran.
Mesquite
Mesquite, also called mezquite or mesquite bush, is the common name for spiny, pod-bearing trees and shrubs of the legume genus Prosopis and relatives, used for food, fodder, and wood.
Metrosideros
Metrosideros, the rātā and pōhutukawa genus of Myrtaceae, is a group of about 60 Pacific woody species with centres of diversity in New Zealand and New Caledonia, wind-dispersed seeds, red flowers, and vulnerability to myrtle rust and rapid ʻōhiʻa death.
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.
Milicia
Milicia (Moraceae) is a genus of two dioecious tropical African timber trees, M. excelsa and M. regia, both traded as iroko; durable hardwood, near threatened/vulnerable, constrained by Phytolyma lata psyllid.
Milicia excelsa
Milicia excelsa (iroko, African teak, mvule) is a large dioecious Moraceae tree of tropical Africa, 30–50 m tall, yielding a valuable teak-substitute timber; IUCN Lower Risk/near threatened, heavily logged, plantations hindered by Phytolyma galls.
Mimosa
Mimosa is a pantropical legume genus of over 400 prickly, touch-sensitive plants, type species Mimosa pudica, the sensitive plant whose leaflets fold within seconds via pulvinar turgor loss and action potentials.
Mimosa pudica
Mimosa pudica, the sensitive plant or touch-me-not, is a Fabaceae herb native to Mexico and tropical America whose leaves fold when touched; it is a tropical invasive weed and medicinal plant.
Mimosa tenuiflora
Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poir., synonym Mimosa hostilis, jurema-preta or tepezcohuite, is a Fabaceae shrub or tree from Mexico to Brazil whose tannin-rich bark is used for wounds and burns; clinical trial results in venous ulcers conflict.
Modiola caroliniana
Modiola caroliniana, Carolina bristlemallow or red-flowered mallow, a prostrate node-rooting Malvaceae herb native to South America, introduced worldwide as a weed, with red-orange flowers and a wheel-shaped bristly schizocarp fruit.
Moraceae
Moraceae, the mulberry family, is a tropical Rosales family of trees, shrubs, and figs with milky latex and stipular scars, sister to Urticaceae, about 47 accepted genera and over 1,000 species.
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.
Morus alba
Morus alba, white mulberry (桑), a Moraceae tree native to central China, cultivated for millennia as the obligate feed of Bombyx mori silkworms; medicinal phytochemistry, forage value, and invasive hybridization with Morus rubra.
Morus nigra
Morus nigra, black mulberry (shah-toot), a deciduous Moraceae fruit tree native to western and southwestern Iran, cultivated since antiquity; decosaploid with 308 chromosomes and fruit 1–2.5 cm.
Mucuna
Mucuna is a pantropical genus of about 112 accepted liana species in Fabaceae, tribe Phaseoleae, first published in 1763. Known for irritant pod hairs, explosive mammal pollination, floating seeds, and the velvet bean Mucuna pruriens.
Mucuna pruriens
Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean, cowitch, kapikacchu), a tropical Fabaceae climbing legume with irritant pod hairs, whose seeds contain 4–6% levodopa and have been trialed as a Parkinson's disease treatment and nitrogen-fixing cover crop.
Murraya
Murraya J.Koenig, also Chalcas, is a Rutaceae genus of 8 accepted species (about 12 in some treatments) native to tropical and subtropical Asia and the SW Pacific, including the curry leaf tree Murraya koenigii and orange jasmine Murraya paniculata.
Murraya paniculata
Murraya paniculata, orange jessamine or orange jasmine (synonym Murraya exotica), a Rutaceae shrub native to tropical Asia to Vanuatu, grown as a fragrant hedge and regulated as a Huanglongbing/psyllid host.
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.
Myrica
Myrica (bayberry, wax myrtle) is a cosmopolitan genus of about 50 accepted species of aromatic, actinorhizal shrubs and trees in Myricaceae (Fagales), including bog myrtle, wax myrtles, and Chinese bayberry, with Morella now synonymized under it.
Myricaceae
Myricaceae, the bayberry or sweet gale family, is a small Fagales family of aromatic, resin-dotted shrubs and small trees (Myrica, Comptonia, Morella, Canacomyrica) with waxy drupes and Frankia nitrogen-fixing root nodules.
Myriophyllum spicatum
Myriophyllum spicatum, Eurasian watermilfoil or spiked watermilfoil, is a submerged Haloragaceae aquatic herb native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, invasive across 48 U.S. states, spreading by fragments, hybridizing with M. sibiricum.
Myrrh
Myrrh (mo yao 沒藥) is the aromatic gum-resin of Commiphora myrrha/molmol trees of Arabia and the Horn of Africa, traded since antiquity as perfume, incense, embalming agent, and medicine, now CITES-listed and EU-monographed.
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.