2,112 articles
Viscum album
Viscum album, European mistletoe, an evergreen hemiparasitic shrub of Santalaceae attaching to tree branches via haustoria; wide host range (452 host taxa), bird-dispersed sticky seeds, five subspecies, toxic lectins and viscotoxins used in herbal medicine.
Vitaceae
Vitaceae, the grape family, is a family of about 16 genera and 950 species of tropical lianas with leaf-opposed tendrils, in the order Vitales; it includes Vitis vinifera, the wine grape.
Vitales
Vitales, the grape order, is an order of eudicot flowering plants in the rosids containing Vitaceae (and sometimes Leeaceae), with about 950 species, leaf-opposed tendrils, and the economically central grape Vitis vinifera.
Vitellaria paradoxa
Vitellaria paradoxa, the shea tree (karité), sole species of Vitellaria in Sapotaceae, is a Vulnerable African savanna tree from Senegal to Uganda whose kernels yield shea butter used in chocolate, cosmetics, and local cooking.
Vitex
Vitex (chaste tree genus) is a genus of about 250 species of trees and shrubs in Lamiaceae, pantropical and warm temperate, with palmate compound leaves and drupaceous fruits; type species Vitex agnus-castus, used for timber and herbal medicine.
Vitex agnus-castus
Vitex agnus-castus (chaste tree, chasteberry, monk's pepper) is a Lamiaceae shrub of the Mediterranean to Central Asia whose dried fruit (agni casti fructus) is an EU-approved herbal medicine for premenstrual syndrome, acting via dopaminergic prolactin reduction.
Vitex negundo
Vitex negundo (huang jing, nirgundi, lagundi) is an Asian Lamiaceae shrub used in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine; 120 compounds isolated, and Philippine lagundi leaf preparations are FDA-approved for cough and asthma.
Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera, the Eurasian grapevine (subsp. vinifera/sativa and wild sylvestris), is the species behind over 90% of world grapes; domesticated in the South Caucasus around 6000 BC, with ~10,000 varieties.
Vochysiaceae
Vochysiaceae A.St.-Hil., a family of Myrtales trees and shrubs, sister to Myrtaceae, with zygomorphic one-stamen flowers and spurred sepal; Neotropical with a few West African species, about 200 species in 7-9 genera.
Walnut
Walnut (Juglans regia, Persian or English walnut): a long-lived wind-pollinated tree native from Xinjiang to the Caucasus, spread by humans since the Bronze Age; major nut crop (2.67 M MT in-shell 2023/24, China 51%) rich in polyunsaturated fats.
Waltheria indica
Waltheria indica (syn. W. americana), sleepy morning or 'uhaloa, a Malvaceae subshrub native to tropical America, pantropical weed used in traditional medicine for asthma, inflammation, and pain.
Wasabi (山葵)
Wasabi (山葵, Eutrema japonicum) is a Japanese Brassicaceae herb grown for its grated rhizome's isothiocyanate pungency; cultivation began in Keicho-era Shizuoka, whose terraced spring-water fields are a FAO heritage site.
Water caltrop
Water caltrop (Trapa natans), also called water chestnut or singhara, is an annual floating-leaved aquatic plant with horned edible fruits, native to Eurasia and Africa, a protected crop in Asia and Europe but a noxious invasive weed in North America and Australia.
Watercress
Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) is a perennial aquatic plant in the cabbage family grown for its peppery leaves, native to Eurasia and spread worldwide by European settlement.
Weigela
Weigela, a genus of about ten deciduous shrub species in Caprifoliaceae native from China to the Russian Far East and Japan, named for C.E. von Weigel; famous for W. florida, over 130 garden cultivars in eight Hoffmann Groups, and spring trumpet flowers on old wood.
Willow
Willow (Salix, Salicaceae): about 450 dioecious, catkin-bearing tree and shrub species of northern temperate riparian zones, polyploid (2n=38-224), chemically rich in salicinoids, invasive in the Southern Hemisphere, and widely used for bioenergy, restoration, and phytoremediation.
Willow (disambiguation)
Willow (disambiguation): the genus Salix (350-450 willow species), named species such as weeping, white, black, and crack willow, willow bark medicine and aspirin, shrub willow bioenergy, Willowpedia, and the UK National Willow Collection.
Winteraceae
Winteraceae R.Br. ex Lindl., the winter's bark family, is a magnoliid family in Canellales with five genera and c. 90 species of vesselless, peppery-aromatic trees and shrubs, from Mexico and Papuasia to southern South America; best-known genus Drimys.
Wintergreen
Gaultheria procumbens (American wintergreen, eastern teaberry, checkerberry) is a low evergreen Ericaceae shrub of northeastern North America; its gaultherin-rich extracts are anti-inflammatory, and its wintergreen oil is 96.9–100% methyl salicylate.
Wisteria
Wisteria, also called wistaria, is a genus of about five to seven deciduous twining vine species in Fabaceae, including Chinese Wisteria sinensis, Japanese W. floribunda, and native American W. frutescens, known for long fragrant flower racemes and the invasiveness of the Asian species in the US.
Witch-hazel
Witch-hazel (Hamamelis) is a genus of five winter- or fall-blooming shrubs in Hamamelidaceae, native to eastern North America, China, and Japan, with straplike fragrant flowers and explosive seed pods; garden hybrids are H. x intermedia.
Withania
Withania (ashwagandha genus), Solanaceae shrub genus of about 23-26 species; W. somnifera and W. coagulans are medicinal, withanolide-rich, used over 3000 years in Ayurveda.
Withania somnifera (अश्वगन्धा)
Withania somnifera (ashwagandha, Indian ginseng, winter cherry) is a Solanaceae shrub used in Ayurveda; withanolide-containing root extracts show trial evidence for stress, insomnia, and anxiety, with rare liver injury reported.
Wood
Wood (secondary xylem) is the structural tissue trees form via the vascular cambium; used as fuel, timber, and paper feedstock. Key facts: Kalambo Falls 476,000-year-old structure, 3,905 million m³ roundwood in 2024, orthotropic mechanics.
Xanthium
Xanthium (cocklebur) is a genus of annual Asteraceae herbs with spiny two-seeded burs dispersed by animal fur and water; taxonomically contested, toxic to livestock via carboxyatractyloside, and used in Chinese medicine as Cang-Er-Zi.
Xanthium strumarium
Xanthium strumarium (cocklebur, Cang-Er-Zi), Asteraceae annual herb; fruits are a Chinese Pharmacopoeia medicine for rhinitis, while seeds and seedlings contain toxic carboxyatractyloside.
Xeranthemum annuum
Xeranthemum annuum (annual everlasting, immortelle) is an Asteraceae annual native from Central and SE Europe to Central Asia and Iran, with papery pink or white flower heads used in dried arrangements and studied for antioxidant polyphenols.
Xylopia
Xylopia (Guinea pepper genus) is a pantropical genus of about 160–197 Annonaceae trees and shrubs, second largest in its family, of African origin, with dehiscent multi-carpellate fruits, beetle or thrips pollination, bird and monkey seed dispersal, and the spice species Xylopia aethiopica.
Yermo xanthocephalus
Yermo xanthocephalus (desert yellowhead) is a monotypic, federally threatened perennial aster endemic to two BLM populations in Fremont County, Wyoming; discovered in 1990, described by Robert Dorn in 1991, with extremely low seed viability.
Yuzu (柚子)
Yuzu (柚子, Citrus × junos) is an aromatic acid citrus hybrid from the upper Yangtze, grown mainly in Japan and Korea and used for its fragrant peel and sour juice in ponzu, garnishes, and yuzu baths.