3,306 articles
Prunus virginiana
Prunus virginiana (chokecherry), Rosaceae, a thicket-forming North American shrub or small tree with three varieties (virginiana, melanocarpa, demissa), astringent dark drupes, rhizomatous spread, strong fire resprouting, and hydrocyanic-acid pits.
Pseudobulb
Pseudobulb: a thickened, bulblike modified stem above ground in many orchids (Cattleya, Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum), storing water, food, and CO2 in aerenchyma for CAM photosynthesis; old leafless ones are backbulbs used for propagation.
Pseudolarix (金钱松属)
Pseudolarix (金钱松属), golden larch, is a monotypic Pinaceae genus whose sole species Pseudolarix amabilis is a Vulnerable deciduous conifer from eastern China, unrelated to true larches, with gold autumn foliage and shattering cones.
Pseudolarix wehrii
Pseudolarix wehrii (Gooch, 1992) is an extinct Eocene golden larch (Pinaceae) from Washington and Arctic Canada, a long-bracted fossil species distinguished from living Pseudolarix amabilis by bracts over half the cone-scale length.
Pseudoroegneria spicata
Pseudoroegneria spicata, bluebunch wheatgrass (beardless wheatgrass in subsp. inerme), is a native cool-season perennial bunchgrass of western North American sagebrush steppe, a leading rangeland restoration grass with cultivars Whitmar, Goldar, P-7, and Anatone.
Pseudotsuga
Pseudotsuga (douglas-firs), Pinaceae conifer genus, 1867 Carrière; four species, P. menziesii (Douglas-fir), macrocarpa, sinensis, japonica; native western North America and East Asia; distinctive protruding cone bracts.
Psidium
Psidium (guava genus), Myrtaceae, native Mexico to tropical America, 71-92 species including cultivated Psidium guajava and invasive strawberry guava Psidium cattleyanum, one of the world's 100 worst invasive organisms.
Psophocarpus
Psophocarpus, a small African-Madagascan legume genus in Fabaceae tribe Phaseoleae, is known for the winged bean P. tetragonolobus, a protein-rich multipurpose tropical crop with four-winged, explosively dehiscent pods.
Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, the winged bean or goa bean, is a twining tropical legume grown in hot, humid regions for its edible pods, seeds, leaves, and tubers.
Psoralea
Psoralea L. (fountainbush) is a Cape-centered legume genus in tribe Psoraleeae, described by Linnaeus in 1753, native Mozambique to South Africa, with about 129 species after absorbing Otholobium.
Psychotria
Psychotria L. (synonyms Cephaelis, Mapouria) is a pantropical genus of understory Rubiaceae shrubs with about 1,600-1,800 species, heterostylous flowers, red drupes, and bacterial leaf nodules; once broader, now split among Palicourea, Eumachia and others.
Psychotria viridis
Psychotria viridis (chacruna), a Rubiaceae shrub from Mexico to tropical South America, is the DMT-containing leaf ingredient of ayahuasca, containing 1–1.6 mg DMT per gram of dry leaf; often confused with the alkaloid-free P. carthagenensis.
Psyllium
Psyllium, also known as isabgol or ispaghula, is the gel-forming husk fiber of the plant Plantago ovata, used as a bulk laxative and to lower cholesterol.
Pterocarpus
Pterocarpus (padouk, narra, red sanders) is a pantropical legume tree genus in Fabaceae, tribe Dalbergieae, with winged indehiscent pods and red resin; prized timbers include P. indicus, P. soyauxii, and endangered P. santalinus.
Pterocarpus macrocarpus
Pterocarpus macrocarpus, Burma padauk, pradoo, thnong: a deciduous Fabaceae timber tree native to Indochina, 10-30 m tall, with red termite-resistant heartwood, winged pods, and EU Annex D trade controls.
Pterocarpus santalinus
Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandalwood, red sanders) is an Endangered Fabaceae tree endemic to southern India's Eastern Ghats, CITES Appendix II since 1995, yielding claret-red heartwood and the dye santalin for furniture, medicine, and instruments.
Pterocarya
Pterocarya (wingnuts), genus of six Juglandaceae tree species native from Türkiye and Iran to East Asia; Cenozoic relict with Caucasus–East Asia disjunction, winged nutlets in pendulous catkins, and Miocene divergence from Juglans.
Pterostylis
Pterostylis, greenhood orchids (Orchidaceae), an Australasian genus of about 315 accepted species with hooded trap-flowers pollinated by fungus gnats through sexual deception, native from Maluku to New Zealand.
Puccinellia
Puccinellia (alkali grass, saltgrass) is a Poaceae genus of about 80-120 accepted species of annual or perennial halophytic grasses of damp saline habitats, subarctic to temperate worldwide; P. tenuiflora and P. nuttalliana are studied salt-tolerance models.
Puccinia melanocephala
Puccinia melanocephala, the brown rust fungus of sugarcane (distinct from P. kuehnii orange rust), spread from Africa into the Americas in 1978 and causes 10-50% yield losses, managed mainly by resistant varieties.
Pueraria
Pueraria (kudzu vine genus) is a genus of tuberous-rooted climbing legumes in Fabaceae, tribe Phaseoleae, native to Asia and the W. Pacific; established by de Candolle in 1825, later shown polyphyletic and split into five genera including Haymondia and Toxicopueraria.
Puffed rice
Puffed rice, also called muri, murmura, khoi, kurmura, or mandakki, is rice expanded by heat and pressure into a light crisp grain, eaten as a South Asian street snack, breakfast cereal, and bhel puri base.
Pulicaria
Pulicaria (fleabane), genus of aromatic Asteraceae herbs in tribe Inuleae, published by Gaertner in 1791; about 75-100 species native from Africa and Europe to the Indian Subcontinent, used as herbal tea and traditional medicine.
Pulmonaria
Pulmonaria (lungwort) is a Boraginaceae genus of about 18 perennial species native to Europe, Siberia, and N. China, with red-to-blue aging flowers, distyly, spotted leaves, and shade-garden use.
Pulmonaria officinalis
Pulmonaria officinalis, lungwort or pulmonaire officinale, is a spotted-leaved European borage-family perennial whose flowers shift from red to blue; IUCN Least Concern, long used for lung ailments.
Punica
Punica is a two-species genus of Lythraceae: the cultivated pomegranate Punica granatum and the wild, Socotra-endemic Punica protopunica, its probable ancestor with n=7 chromosomes.
Purshia tridentata
Purshia tridentata, antelope bitterbrush, is a deciduous Rosaceae shrub native from British Columbia to the US Southwest, covering about 340 million acres, valued as mule deer and livestock browse, with Frankia nitrogen fixation and deep taproots.
Pussy willow
Pussy willow (Salix discolor, American pussy willow) is a North American willow shrub of wetlands, known for silky catkins opening before leaves in early spring; dioecious, a major early bee forage, and often confused with Eurasian Salix caprea.
Puya raimondii
Puya raimondii, commonly called the Queen of the Andes, is a giant bromeliad endemic to the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia and the largest species in the Bromeliaceae.
Pyracantha
Pyracantha (firethorn) is a genus of six accepted evergreen, thorny Rosaceae shrubs native from southern Europe to China, grown for white spring flowers and red, orange, or yellow winter berries, prone to scab and fireblight.