3,306 articles
Artocarpus integer
Artocarpus integer, cempedak (champada, chempedak), a Moraceae fruit tree native from Peninsula Thailand to Malesia, related to jackfruit and breadfruit; aromatic 0.6–3.5 kg fruits, teak-strength timber, IUCN Least Concern.
Arum
Arum L. (arum lilies, lords-and-ladies) is a genus of 28 tuberous Araceae herbs native from Macaronesia and Europe to W. China, with heat- and odor-producing lure-and-trap inflorescences pollinated mainly by Psychoda flies, toxic calcium oxalate raphides, and Mediterranean origin.
Arum maculatum
Arum maculatum, known as cuckoo pint, lords-and-ladies, or wild arum, is a tuberous woodland plant of the arum family, native to Europe, with hooded flowers and toxic scarlet berries.
Aruncus
Aruncus (goat's beard) is a genus of five accepted dioecious perennial species in Rosaceae, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere; A. dioicus grows 3-6 ft with creamy plumes, A. aethusifolius is a 12-inch Korean dwarf.
Arundinaria
Arundinaria (river cane, switch cane) is a genus of four temperate bamboo species in Poaceae, the only New World genus of tribe Arundinarieae, native to central and eastern USA, formerly canebrake-forming and now under restoration.
Arundo
Arundo (giant reeds), Poaceae genus with five accepted species including Arundo donax, giant reed; Mediterranean-to-East Asian rhizomatous reeds used for bioenergy and reed instruments, and highly invasive elsewhere.
Asarum
Asarum (wild ginger) is a genus of about 138 accepted species of aromatic rhizomatous herbs in Aristolochiaceae, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, most diverse in East Asia, used as the Chinese medicine Xixin but containing nephrotoxic aristolochic acid analogs.
Asarum europaeum
Asarum europaeum (asarabacca, European wild ginger), Aristolochiaceae perennial native from Europe to Central Siberia; evergreen ground cover with hidden flowers; contains toxic, carcinogenic aristolochic acid.
Asclepias
Asclepias, commonly known as milkweeds, is a genus of about 130 plants in the dogbane family. These herbaceous perennials are a major host plant for monarch butterflies.
Asclepias curassavica
Asclepias curassica, or tropical weed, is a flowering plant native to Mexico. It is grown as an ornamental and serves as a host for the monarch butterfly.
Asclepias syriaca
Asclepias syriaca, common milkweed (silkweed, Virginia silkweed), a rhizomatous perennial Apocynaceae herb native to central-eastern North America, monarch larval host, cardenolide-defended, a cropland weed and invasive in Europe.
Asclepias tuberosa
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed, pleurisy root) is a tuberous-rooted North American milkweed with clear sap and orange flowers, a monarch larval host, and a former official medicinal root.
Asimina
Asimina (pawpaw) is the only temperate-climate genus of the tropical custard apple family Annonaceae, native to eastern North America; its species A. triloba bears the largest edible fruit native to North America.
Asimina triloba
Asimina triloba (pawpaw, custard apple), a temperate Annonaceae tree of eastern North America bearing the largest edible native U.S. fruit; protogynous, self-incompatible flowers, acetogenin-bearing pulp, seeds needing cold stratification.
Asparagaceae
Asparagaceae (asparagus family) is a cosmopolitan Asparagales family of about 150 genera and 2,595 species, absorbing Agavaceae, Hyacinthaceae, Dracaenaceae, and Eriospermaceae under APG; includes Asparagus, Agave, Yucca, Dracaena.
Asparagales
Asparagales (Link, 1829), largest monocot order: ~1,030 genera, ~39,000 species, 14 APG IV families including Orchidaceae, Asparagaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Iridaceae; phytomelan seeds, crown age ~110 Ma.
Asparagus
Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L., garden asparagus) is a dioecious perennial Asparagaceae herb native from Europe to Mongolia, grown for edible spring spears; green and white types are one species, white produced by excluding light, harvest starting in year three.
Asparagus (genus)
Asparagus is a genus of about 211 accepted perennial species in Asparagaceae, native from Europe and Africa to northern Australia, with leaf-like cladodes, a South African diversity center, and the crop species Asparagus officinalis.
Asparagus racemosus
Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari, Satavari) is a climbing Asparagaceae plant native from tropical Africa to N. Australia whose tuberous roots, rich in steroidal saponins such as shatavarin-IV, are used in Ayurveda as a galactagogue and tonic.
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.
Asphodelaceae
Asphodelaceae is a family of monocot flowering plants in the order Asparagales, mostly Old World perennials and succulents, named in 1789 and best known for aloe, haworthia, and kniphofia.
Asphodelus
Asphodelus (asphodel) is a genus of about 18 perennial herbs in Asphodelaceae, native from Macaronesia and the Mediterranean to the Indian Subcontinent, used in traditional medicine and phytochemistry.
Aspidistra
Aspidistra (cast-iron plant genus) is a genus of rhizomatous Asparagaceae herbs, subfamily Nolinoideae, native from the eastern Himalaya to Japan, with over 200 species and fungus-gnat pollination; A. elatior is the familiar houseplant.
Aspidosperma
Aspidosperma is a genus of trees in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, native from Mexico to Argentina, with 42 of its 80 accepted species occurring in Brazil.
Aster (genus)
Aster (genus), Aster L. (1753), a genus of daisy-family (Asteraceae) herbs now restricted mainly to temperate Eurasia; former American asters moved to Symphyotrichum, Eurybia, and others.
Asteraceae
Asteraceae (Compositae), the sunflower or aster family, is the largest flowering plant family with 24,000–30,000 species in 1,600–1,700 genera, defined by florets packed into a capitulum, united anthers, and pappus-bearing achenes; Late Cretaceous South American origin.
Asterales
Asterales (キク目) is an order of flowering plants, about 10% of angiosperms, in the campanulid clade, with 11-12 families dominated by Asteraceae and Campanulaceae; monophyletic, of Gondwanan Late Cretaceous origin.
Asterids
Asterids, a major eudicot clade of flowering plants with over 80,000 species in about 100 families and 17 APG IV orders, including Asteraceae and Rubiaceae; origin dated to the Aptian (~121 Ma), fossils from the Turonian (~89 Ma).
Astragalus gummifer
Astragalus gummifer (goat's thorn, geven) is a spiny Fabaceae subshrub native to Türkiye, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, the species usually cited as the source of gum tragacanth (E 413), used as an emulsifier and thickener.
Astrocaryum
Astrocaryum (tucumã, murumuru palms) is a spiny Neotropical palm genus of Arecaceae, native Mexico to tropical America, about 39–40 species, Brazil richest; fruits eaten, fiber and oil used.