Plants and algae

Aegle

Aegle is a monotypic genus of Rutaceae (Sapindales) whose single species, Aegle marmelos (bael, Bengal quince), is a spiny South Asian tree with hard-shelled aromatic fruit, sacred in Hinduism and used in Ayurveda.

Aegle marmelos

Aegle marmelos (bael, bilva, Bengal quince) is a spiny Rutaceae tree native to the Indian Subcontinent, sacred in Hinduism and used in Ayurveda; fruit 5–15 cm, bioactives include marmelosin and aegeline.

Aegopodium

Aegopodium (羊角芹属), goutweed or ground elder genus, Apiaceae herbs native to temperate Eurasia and the Himalaya; 12 accepted species; A. podagraria is an invasive rhizomatous garden weed in North America.

Aegopodium podagraria

Aegopodium podagraria, goutweed or ground elder (bishop's weed), is a rhizomatous Apiaceae perennial native to temperate Eurasia, a medieval potherb and gout remedy, now an invasive ornamental spreading by rhizomes up to 70 cm yearly.

Aeschynomene

Aeschynomene L. (joint vetch) is a pantropical legume genus of about 150-190 species, many aquatic, famous for stem nodulation by photosynthetic Bradyrhizobium lacking nodABC genes; A. evenia is its Nod-independent model legume.

Aesculus

Aesculus (horse-chestnuts, buckeyes) is a genus of about 12 tree and shrub species in Sapindaceae, native from SE Europe to Japan and North America, containing the toxin aesculin and including the widely planted European horse-chestnut.

Aesculus glabra

Aesculus glabra, Ohio buckeye (fetid or stinking buckeye), a Sapindaceae tree of the east-central US with five-leaflet palmate leaves, spiny capsules, toxic aesculin/aescin seeds, soft light wood, and status as Ohio's state tree.

Aesculus hippocastanum

Aesculus hippocastanum, horse chestnut or conker tree, is a large Balkan-native deciduous tree, IUCN Vulnerable with 5,000-9,000 mature trees, threatened by the leaf miner Cameraria ohridella and used medicinally via escin seed extract.

Aframomum

Aframomum K.Schum., a genus of about 63 accepted species of rhizomatous Zingiberaceae herbs native to tropical Africa and Madagascar; includes A. melegueta, grains of paradise or alligator pepper, a West African spice and medicinal plant.

Afrocarpus

Afrocarpus is a small genus of African yellowwood conifers, evergreen dioecious trees of Afromontane forests from Ethiopia south to the Cape, with 5 to 7 species.

Afrocarpus falcatus

Afrocarpus falcatus (outeniqua yellowwood, formerly Podocarpus falcatus) is a 45 m African podocarp conifer of montane forests, a yellow timber tree rated Least Concern, planted widely as African fern pine.

Afzelia

Afzelia (doussié, chanfuta, tindalo) is a genus of 12 accepted Fabaceae hardwood tree species native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia, prized for dense, teak-like durable timber; several species are Vulnerable and CITES-regulated.

Agapanthus

Agapanthus (African lily, Lily of the Nile) is a southern African genus of eight rhizomatous Amaryllidaceae species with blue or white umbels, 625+ cultivars, medicinal uses, and invasive status in New Zealand.

Agar

Agar (agar-agar, E406, CAS 9002-18-0), kanten: polysaccharide of agarose and agaropectin from red algae (Gelidium, Gracilaria); gels at 34-43 °C, melts above 85 °C; used in food, culture media, and electrophoresis.

Agarwood

Agarwood (oud, aloeswood, gaharu) is fragrant resinous heartwood from Aquilaria and Gyrinops trees formed after fungal infection; CITES Appendix II listed, traded as incense, oil, and perfume worth up to $120,000/kg.

Agathis

Agathis (kauri, dammar) is a genus of about 19 large Araucariaceae conifers of Malesia to New Zealand rainforests, valued for timber and copal, sister to Wollemia, with Cenozoic fossils from Australasia and Patagonia.

Agathis australis

Agathis australis (kauri) is New Zealand's giant Araucariaceae conifer, 30–60 m tall, endemic north of 38° S, culturally a Māori taonga, and threatened by the incurable soil-borne pathogen Phytophthora agathidicida (kauri dieback).

Agathis dammara

Agathis dammara (almaciga, dammar pine, East Indian kauri) is a Vulnerable Araucariaceae conifer tree native to the Philippines, Sulawesi, and Maluku, source of dammar copal resin and lightweight kauri timber.

Agathoxylon

Agathoxylon Hartig 1848 is a morphogenus for Araucaria-like fossil wood with araucarian tracheid pitting and araucarioid cross-fields, replacing the illegitimate Araucarioxylon; recorded from Devonian to Holocene, especially Mesozoic Gondwana.

Agave

Agave is a genus of succulent, rosette-forming plants in the family Asparagaceae, native from the southwestern United States to Venezuela and especially numerous in Mexico.

Agave americana

Agave americana, the century plant or maguey americano, is a monocarpic CAM succulent native from the southern USA to Mexico, tolerating −9 °C, flowering once on a stalk up to 10 m, and used for pulque, fiber, medicine, and ornament.

Agave lophantha

Agave lophantha (thorncrest century plant, maguey mezortillo), also called Agave univittata, is a compact succulent agave from SW Texas to NE Mexico, flowering once on a 12-foot stalk; secure (G5), grown as 'Quadricolor' and 'Splendida' ornamentals.

Agave syrup

Agave syrup, or agave nectar, is a post-1990 liquid sweetener from Agave salmiana and A. tequilana sap, made by hydrolyzing fructans; up to 90% fructose, glycemic index 10–27, regulated by NOM-003-SAGARPA-2016.

Ageratina

Ageratina, a genus of about 316 species of Asteraceae herbs and shrubs in tribe Eupatorieae, established by Spach in 1841, formerly in Eupatorium; includes invasive crofton weed (A. adenophora) and toxic white snakeroot (A. altissima).

Ageratum

Ageratum is a genus of about 30-40 Asteraceae herbs native to tropical America, including the pantropical weed Ageratum conyzoides and the garden ornamental A. houstonianum, known for precocene-rich oils and pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

Ageratum conyzoides

Ageratum conyzoides (billy goat weed, goat weed, tropical whiteweed), an aromatic Asteraceae annual herb native to Mexico, pantropical invasive agricultural weed, folk medicine, and source of precocenes, methoxyflavonoids, and hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.