2,112 articles
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.
Sesbania
Sesbania (sesbania, sesban) is a genus of about 50-80 legume species (Fabaceae, tribe Sesbanieae) of herbs, shrubs, and small trees in tropical wet habitats, used as green manure, fodder, and fuelwood; S. rostrata uniquely forms nitrogen-fixing stem nodules.
Sesbania grandiflora
Sesbania grandiflora, known as agati or vegetable hummingbird, is a fast-growing legume tree native to Malesia and New Guinea, cultivated across the tropics for food, forage, and medicine.
Seseli
Seseli L. is a genus of 141 accepted Apiaceae herbs native to temperate Eurasia, North Africa, and Somalia; non-monophyletic, rich in coumarins and essential oils, used in traditional medicine.
Shamrock
The shamrock, also known as the three-leaf clover, is a small three-leaved plant symbolizing Ireland, most often Trifolium dubium or Trifolium repens, and one of Ireland's official State emblems.
Shea butter
Shea butter (karité) is the fat from kernels of Vitellaria paradoxa, a wild tree of the African shea belt from Senegal to Uganda. About 90% of exports feed chocolate and bakery uses as cocoa butter equivalents; the rest serves cosmetics, supporting millions of West African women producers.
Shorea
Shorea (娑罗属), a Dipterocarpaceae tree genus from the Indian Subcontinent to Malesia, source of meranti and balau timber; masting, thrips pollination, 47 accepted species per Kew.
Shorea robusta
Shorea robusta (sal, साल, 娑罗双) is a large Dipterocarpaceae timber tree dominating sal forests of the Indian subcontinent; IUCN least concern, ~105,790 km2 of sal forest in India, threatened by heartwood borer epidemics, fire, and poor regeneration.
Shrub
Shrub: a perennial woody plant, also called a bush, shorter than a tree with multiple stems from near ground level; no strict scientific definition exists, defined by stem number and height conventions of 12-20 feet.
Sicana
Sicana Naudin (1862) is a genus of four accepted climbing cucurbit species in Cucurbitaceae, tribe Cucurbiteae, native from the Caribbean to Peru and Bolivia; its best-known species, Sicana odorifera (cassabanana, musk cucumber), is the sister group of Cucurbita with 2n = 40, and S. trinitensis of Trinidad is IUCN Endangered.
Sida
Sida (fanpetals) is a pantropical genus of herbs and shrubs in Malvaceae, tribe Malveae, with about 200-277 species, type species Sida rhombifolia; weedy, medicinal, and polyphyletic per recent phylogenetics.
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.
Silene
Silene (campion, catchfly) is a large Caryophyllaceae genus of about 870-891 species, centered in the Mediterranean and W Asia, with three subgenera, twice-evolved sex chromosomes, and model status in ecology.
Silybum
Silybum (milk thistle genus), two Asteraceae thistle species including Silybum marianum, Mediterranean-native medicinal herb source of silymarin, naturalized worldwide and used for liver remedies for over 2000 years.
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.
Simaba cedron
Simaba cedron (cedron, cedrón; now Homalolepis cedron), a Simaroubaceae tree from Costa Rica to South America; bitter quassinoid seeds used traditionally against fevers and snakebite.
Simarouba
Simarouba (aceituno, bitterwood) is a genus of six dioecious Neotropical trees in Simaroubaceae, type species Simarouba amara, native from Mexico and Florida to South America, introduced to India, and rich in medicinal quassinoids.
Simaroubaceae
Simaroubaceae, the tree-of-heaven or quassia family, is a pantropical Sapindales family of about 20 genera and 110 species of bitter-barked trees and shrubs, sister to Rutaceae and Meliaceae in the SRM clade.
Sinapis
Sinapis (mustard) is a genus of three accepted Brassicaceae species native from temperate Eurasia to North Africa; its species Sinapis alba, white or yellow mustard, is a major condiment and cover crop.
Sinapis alba
Sinapis alba (white mustard, yellow mustard, syn. Brassica hirta), an annual Brassicaceae herb with 2n=24 (SS genome), grown for condiment seed rich in sinalbin, green manure, forage, and oil.
Sinapis arvensis
Sinapis arvensis, charlock or wild mustard (synonym Brassica kaber, NCBI name Mutarda arvensis), is an annual Brassicaceae weed of Eurasian and North African origin, naturalized worldwide, with light-requiring coat-imposed seed dormancy and ALS-inhibitor-resistant Turkish biotypes.
Siraitia grosvenorii
Siraitia grosvenorii (monk fruit, luo han guo, 罗汉果), a Cucurbitaceae vine native to southern China, produces mogroside V, a cucurbitane triterpene glycoside about 300 times sweeter than sucrose, used as a zero-calorie sweetener and Chinese food-medicine.
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.
Sisymbrium
Sisymbrium (hedge mustards, rockets) is a genus of Brassicaceae herbs published by Linnaeus in 1753, lectotype S. altissimum; about 41-90 species, Miocene origin in the Irano-Turanian region, yellow flowers and 3-nerved linear siliques.
Sium
Sium (water parsnips), Apiaceae genus of glabrous perennial wetland herbs of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, about 9-10 species including skirret (S. sisarum) and S. suave.
Sium sisarum
Sium sisarum, skirret (crummock, Zuckerwurzel), a tuberous Apiaceae perennial native from Central and Southeast Europe to SW Siberia and N Afghanistan, grown on a small scale for its sweet clustered roots, 2n=12, IUCN Least Concern.
Smallanthus
Smallanthus is a genus of about 20-23 tuberous-rooted Asteraceae (Millerieae, Espeletiinae) from the USA to Argentina, named by Mackenzie in 1933; its best-known species is yacon, Smallanthus sonchifolius.
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.