Seed plants

Microcycas

Microcycas, palma corcho, is a monotypic Cuban cycad genus whose single species Microcycas calocoma, endemic to Pinar del Río, is Critically Endangered, has the largest known cycad ovulate cone, and is closest to Zamia.

Microgreen

Microgreens: young edible vegetable and herb seedlings harvested 7–14 days after planting at the first true leaf stage, 2–8 cm tall, nutrient-dense versus mature greens, eaten raw, with Salmonella and Listeria recall history.

Mikania

Mikania Willd. (guaco) is a large genus of climbing Asteraceae in tribe Eupatorieae, about 447 accepted species, mostly neotropical, recognized by four-floret heads with four phyllaries; includes the invasive mile-a-minute weed Mikania micrantha.

Mikania micrantha

Mikania micrantha (mile-a-minute weed, mikania vine, Chinese creeper), an Asteraceae vine native to tropical America, is an IUCN top-100 worst invasive species growing up to 20 cm per day, smothering crops and forests across Asia, the Pacific, and Florida, and controlled with the rust fungus Puccinia spegazzinii.

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.

Milium

Milium (milletgrass) is a small genus of Poaceae grasses, published by Linnaeus in 1753, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere with six accepted species including the woodland grass Milium effusum.

Milium effusum

Milium effusum (wood millet, American milletgrass, 粟草) is a perennial Poaceae grass native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, a shade-tolerant deciduous woodland herb up to 1.8 m with open effuse panicles, 2n=14/28, and the cultivar 'Aureum'.

Millet

Millets are a group of small-seeded cereal grasses, among the first plants domesticated, and a staple for millions in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, with India the largest producer.

Millettia

Millettia (崖豆藤属) is a genus of Fabaceae legume trees, shrubs, and lianas of the tropical and subtropical Old World, with about 128 accepted species. Molecular studies show it is polyphyletic; Asian and African species are being split into Millettia s.str., Pongamia, Otosema, and other genera. Sources of wenge timber, rotenoid fish poisons, and traditional medicines.

Miltonia spectabilis

Miltonia spectabilis Lindl. is an orchid species native to southeast Brazil, described by John Lindley in 1837. A pseudobulbous epiphyte with single flowers to 10 cm; its former variety moreliana is now the separate species Miltonia moreliana.

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.

Mimulus

Mimulus (monkeyflowers), a Phrymaceae genus of roughly 160-200 species with radiations in western North America and Australia; a classic model system for adaptation, speciation, and pollinator-shift studies, later split into Erythranthe and Diplacus.

Mimusops

Mimusops, a Sapotaceae tree genus of 49 Old World tropical species including M. elengi and M. zeyheri; native Africa to Australia, introduced to Florida and Hawaii; distinct from Diospyros mimusops.

Mirabilis jalapa

Mirabilis jalapa, the four o'clock flower or marvel of Peru, is a Nyctaginaceae perennial native from Mexico to Nicaragua whose fragrant betalain-pigmented flowers open about 4 p.m.; roots and seeds are toxic.

Mistletoe

Mistletoe: hemiparasitic flowering plants of Santalales (c. 18 families, 2,200+ species), including Viscum album, attached to tree branches by a haustorium, bird-dispersed, a keystone resource for woodland biodiversity, and a toxic Christmas plant.

Mitragyna

Mitragyna Korth. (1839) is a Rubiaceae genus of African and Asian trees; its species M. speciosa is kratom, source of the opioid-receptor alkaloids mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.

Mitragyna speciosa

Mitragyna speciosa (kratom, ketum) is a Southeast Asian Rubiaceae tree whose leaves contain mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, opioid-active alkaloids; traditionally chewed or brewed, now regulated, with concentrated 7-OH products targeted for US Schedule I.

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.

Molinia

Molinia (Schrank, 1789) is a genus of two accepted perennial grasses in Poaceae, native from Europe to Ethiopia; Molinia caerulea, purple moor-grass, dominates wet heaths and uplands and expands when mowing or grazing ceases.

Molinia caerulea

Molinia caerulea, purple moor-grass (Moor grass), a tufted Poaceae perennial native from Europe to W. Siberia and Ethiopia; a strong competitor dominating moors, fens, and degraded peatlands, managed by cutting, grazing, and mowing.

Mollugo

Mollugo (carpetweed genus) is a genus of annual herbs in Molluginaceae, Caryophyllales, published by Linnaeus in 1753; 13 accepted species native to the New World, Angola, Cape Provinces, India, and Sri Lanka, including the weedy green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata.

Momordica

Momordica, a genus of about 50 climbing Cucurbitaceae herbs native to the Old World tropics, includes bitter melon (M. charantia), gac, and spine gourd, valued as vegetables and for cucurbitane triterpenoid phytochemicals.

Monarda

Monarda (beebalm, bee balm, wild bergamot, horsemint) is a North American genus of about 25 aromatic mint-family (Lamiaceae) perennials, published by Linnaeus in 1753, grown ornamentally and known for Oswego tea and susceptibility to powdery mildew.

Monimiaceae

Monimiaceae Juss. (nom. cons., 1809) is a family of about 200 species of aromatic evergreen trees and shrubs in Laurales, centered in New Guinea and the southern hemisphere, with an extensive Cretaceous fossil record.

Monochamus scutellatus

Monochamus scutellatus, the white-spotted sawyer (MONCST), is a North American longhorn beetle whose larvae bore in felled and dying conifers, damaging sawlogs and vectoring pine wood nematode.

Monocotyledon

A monocotyledon, or monocot, is a flowering plant whose embryo has a single seed leaf, a group of about 70,000 species including grasses, orchids, and palms.