3,306 articles
Amaranthus retroflexus
Amaranthus retroflexus (redroot pigweed, rough pigweed), an annual Amaranthaceae weed native to North America (Kew: Mexico), naturalized worldwide; up to 300,000 seeds per plant, herbicide-resistant, nitrate-toxic to livestock, young leaves edible.
Amaranthus spinosus
Amaranthus spinosus, spiny amaranth or spiny pigweed (Chinese 刺苋, ci xian), is a spine-bearing annual amaranth native from Mexico to Tropical America, now a widespread tropical weed with US resistance to WSSA herbicide groups 2 and 9, used as a leafy vegetable and folk medicine.
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranthus tricolor (Chinese spinach, Joseph's coat, callaloo) is a tropical Asian annual Amaranthaceae herb grown as a leafy vegetable and ornamental; a C4, heat- and drought-tolerant crop rich in protein, iron, calcium, and carotenoids.
Amaranthus viridis
Amaranthus viridis, slender or green amaranth (bledo), an annual Amaranthaceae herb native from SE Mexico to tropical America, now a cosmopolitan weed and leafy vegetable used as food, animal feed, and medicine.
Amaryllidaceae
Amaryllidaceae, the amaryllis family (J.St.-Hil., 1805), a monocot family in Asparagales with subfamilies Amaryllidoideae, Allioideae, and Agapanthoideae; bulbous herbs including Narcissus, Galanthus, and Allium, source of galanthamine.
Amaryllis
Amaryllis is a small genus of South African bulbous plants, best known for Amaryllis belladonna, the Jersey lily, which bears fragrant pink or white trumpet flowers on leafless stems in late summer.
Amaryllis belladonna
Amaryllis belladonna, the belladonna lily, naked lady, or Jersey lily, is a South African Cape bulb, the true Amaryllis, flowering on leafless solid stems in autumn; often confused with Hippeastrum, the holiday 'amaryllis'.
Ambrosia artemisiifolia
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common or short ragweed) is a North American annual Asteraceae herb, invasive in Europe and Asia, whose highly allergenic pollen, led by the major allergen Amb a 1, causes hay fever and asthma in millions.
Amburana cearensis
Amburana cearensis (cumaru, imburana-de-cheiro, cerejeira; syn. Torresea cearensis) is an endangered Fabaceae timber tree of South American seasonally dry forests, used in folk medicine for respiratory ailments; its coumarins, amburoside A/B, and flavonoids show anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and neuroprotective activity.
Amelanchier
Amelanchier (serviceberry, juneberry, saskatoon, shadbush) is a Rosaceae genus of about 20 species of North American, European, and Asian shrubs and small trees with white flowers and edible sweet pomes; taxonomy is complicated by polyploidy, apomixis, and hybridization.
Amelanchier alnifolia
Amelanchier alnifolia, the saskatoon berry or Saskatoon serviceberry, is a North American Rosaceae shrub grown for sweet purple pomes rich in anthocyanins, fiber, and minerals; distinct from other serviceberries by alder-like leaves and western prairie range.
Amelanchier ovalis
Amelanchier ovalis (snowy mespilus, garden serviceberry), Medik. 1793, syn. Mespilus amelanchier L., a Rosaceae shrub native from Europe to the Caucasus and NW Africa, with diploid 2n=34 and tetraploid 2n=68 cytotypes and edible bluish-black fruits.
Amentotaxus
Amentotaxus, the catkin yews, is a genus of about seven dioecious conifer species in Taxaceae, native from the eastern Himalaya to central China and Taiwan, sister to Torreya, with a rich Northern Hemisphere fossil record.
Amentotaxus argotaenia
Amentotaxus argotaenia, the catkin yew (穗花杉), is a small dioecious Taxaceae conifer from SE Tibet, southern China, Vietnam, and Laos; IUCN Near Threatened, with silvery-white leaf stomatal bands and red-arilled seeds.
American chestnut
American chestnut (Castanea dentata), eastern US canopy tree killed as a dominant species by chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) after 1904; restoration via backcross hybrids, hypovirulence, and transgenic Darling 54.
American ginseng (西洋参)
American ginseng (西洋参, Panax quinquefolius), an eastern North American forest herb whose root is prized in East Asian medicine; CITES-listed since 1975, cultivated mainly in Wisconsin and Ontario, with limited clinical evidence for colds and glucose control.
Ammi
Ammi (Bishop's weed genus) is an Apiaceae genus of annual or biennial herbs native from Macaronesia to W Asia, published by Linnaeus in 1753; Ammi majus yields furanocoumarins and causes livestock photosensitization.
Ammi visnaga
Ammi visnaga (khella, toothpickweed; now Visnaga daucoides) is an Apiaceae herb of the Mediterranean whose fruits yield the furanochromones khellin and visnagin, used for renal colic, angina, asthma, and vitiligo phototherapy.
Amomum
Amomum Roxb. is a genus of Zingiberaceae (ginger) herbs native from tropical and subtropical Asia to north Queensland, with about 110 accepted species; it includes large cardamom (Amomum subulatum) and was recircumscribed in 2018.
Amorpha fruticosa
Amorpha fruticosa, the false indigo bush, is a North American legume shrub with purplish blue flowers that has become a major invasive plant in Europe.
Amorphophallus
Amorphophallus (titan arum, konjac, elephant foot yam) is a genus of about 240-246 tuberous aroid herbs native to Africa, Madagascar, Asia, and N. Australia, known for foul-smelling, thermogenic inflorescences and food and medicinal corms.
Amorphophallus konjac
Amorphophallus konjac (konjac, konnyaku, devil's tongue, hua mo yu) is an Araceae tuber from Yunnan, China, cultivated about 2,000 years; its corm stores konjac glucomannan (over 50% of carbohydrates) used for gels, noodles, and supplements.
Amorphophallus paeoniifolius
Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, elephant foot yam (巨花蒟蒻), is an Araceae tuber crop of tropical Asia to northern Australia; its corms to 15 kg are a major carbohydrate food in India and Indonesia, with foul-smelling, heat-generating inflorescences.
Ampelopsis
Ampelopsis (peppervine, porcelain berry) is a genus of tendril-climbing lianas in Vitaceae, published by Michaux in 1803, mostly East Asian with disjunct North American species; Nekemias was split from it in 2014.
Anabasis
Anabasis L. (Anabasearum) is a genus of about 30 succulent, C4 xerophytic shrubs in Amaranthaceae, native from the Mediterranean to Central Asia; source of anabasine from Anabasis aphylla and camel fodder species like A. salsa.
Anacamptis morio
Anacamptis morio, the green-winged orchid (formerly Orchis morio), is a tuberous European orchid native to Europe and the Mediterranean to Iran that offers no nectar, deceives bee pollinators, and is Near Threatened in Europe.
Anacardiaceae
Anacardiaceae, the cashew or sumac family (R.Br., 1818), is a Sapindales family of about 80 genera and 800-870 species of resinous trees and shrubs, including cashew, mango, pistachio, sumac, and poison ivy (urushiol).
Anacardium
Anacardium (cashew genus) is a Neotropical genus of 13 accepted species in Anacardiaceae, native from Mexico to tropical South America; its type species Anacardium occidentale is the cashew, the only economically important member.
Anadenanthera
Anadenanthera (yopo, cebil, angico) is a tropical American legume tree genus with four accepted species; A. peregrina seeds yield the classic hallucinogenic snuff, A. colubrina supplies timber and tannins.
Anadenanthera peregrina
Anadenanthera peregrina (yopo, cohoba, niopo, paricá) is a Fabaceae tree native from the Caribbean to southern tropical South America whose crushed seeds yield the classic hallucinogenic snuff; IUCN Least Concern, genus of two species with A. colubrina.