4,295 articles
Melocactus matanzanus
Melocactus matanzanus (dwarf Turk's-cap cactus, erizo) is a small endangered Cuban cactus described by León in 1934, 7-10 cm across, with 8-9 ribs, a cephalium, pink flowers, and serpentine-scrub habitat in Matanzas and nearby provinces.
Melon
Melon: Cucumis melo (cantaloupe, muskmelon, honeydew), a Cucurbitaceae annual; also covers watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), whose closest wild relative is the Sudanese Kordofan melon.
Melpomene and Terpsichore (ferns)
Melpomene and Terpsichore are two small genera of Neotropical grammitid ferns, small epiphytes of montane cloud forests named for Greek muses and described in consecutive years, 1992 and 1993.
Mentha
Mentha (mint) is a genus of aromatic Lamiaceae herbs, first published by Linnaeus in 1753, with a cosmopolitan native range and about 26 accepted species. Spearmint and peppermint are its main cultivated hybrids; hybridization, polyploidy, and chromosome numbers of 24–120 make its taxonomy notoriously difficult.
Mentha aquatica
Mentha aquatica (water mint), Lamiaceae perennial wetland herb native to Africa, Europe, and W. Asia; IUCN Least Concern; parent of peppermint (Mentha × piperita) with M. spicata; aromatic, rhizomatous, marsh plant.
Mentha canadensis
Mentha canadensis (薄荷, bo he), Canada mint, American wild mint, Japanese mint, or corn mint: a perennial Lamiaceae herb native from Siberia to East Asia and North America, source of cornmint oil rich in menthol (28–47%), with 74 synonyms and disputed species versus subspecies rank.
Mentha longifolia
Mentha longifolia, horsemint or wild mint (欧薄荷), a perennial Lamiaceae herb from Macaronesia to South Africa; variable pulegone/piperitenone oxide essential oil, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, traditional medicinal uses.
Mentha pulegium
Mentha pulegium, pennyroyal or European pennyroyal, is a perennial mint (Lamiaceae) native to Europe and the Mediterranean, with pulegone-rich toxic essential oil, grown as a herb and invasive in California wetlands.
Menyanthes trifoliata
Menyanthes trifoliata (bogbean, buckbean), sole species of the genus Menyanthes in Menyanthaceae, order Asterales; a distylous emergent aquatic herb of Northern Hemisphere bogs and fens, IUCN Least Concern, used as a bitter herbal medicine.
Mercurialis
Mercurialis (annual mercury, dog's mercury) is a genus of about 10 dioecious herbaceous Euphorbiaceae species native from Macaronesia and Europe to the Himalaya, type species M. annua, used in traditional medicine but toxic when fresh.
Mercurialis annua
Mercurialis annua (annual mercury, herb mercury) is an annual wind-pollinated Euphorbiaceae herb of Europe and the Mediterranean, a polyploid complex with dioecious, monoecious, and androdioecious populations.
Mercurialis perennis
Mercurialis perennis, dog's mercury, a dioecious clonal perennial herb of European woodlands and ancient-woodland indicator; spreads mainly by rhizomes, toxic, pH 4.3–8.5, common in Britain.
Merremia
Merremia Dennst. ex Endl., a genus of twining Convolvulaceae vines native from tropical to temperate Asia; once ~100 species, now 38 accepted after Simões & Staples (2017) split; yellow campanulate flowers, smooth pollen.
Mertensia virginica
Mertensia virginica, Virginia bluebells or Virginia cowslip, is a spring-ephemeral perennial in Boraginaceae native from Ontario and Quebec to the eastern and central United States, with pink buds opening to blue flowers and NatureServe rank G5.
Mesclun
Mesclun (Provençal mescla, "to mix") is a blend of young salad greens from Provence and Nice; the classic mix is chervil, arugula, lettuce, and endive, now sold as spring mix.
Mesophyllum
Mesophyllum is a genus of calcified crustose red algae in the family Hapalidiaceae, established by Marie Lemoine in 1928 and found from temperate Northern Hemisphere waters to the Mediterranean.
Mespilus germanica
Mespilus germanica, the common medlar, is a small rose-family tree grown for brown fruits that become sweet only after bletting, native from the Caucasus to Iran.
Mesquite
Mesquite, also called mezquite or mesquite bush, is the common name for spiny, pod-bearing trees and shrubs of the legume genus Prosopis and relatives, used for food, fodder, and wood.
Metasequoia
Metasequoia (dawn redwood, 水杉) is a genus of deciduous conifers in Cupressaceae with one living species, M. glyptostroboides, described from fossils by Miki in 1941 and rediscovered alive in Hubei, China in the 1940s; IUCN Endangered.
Metasequoia glyptostroboides (水杉)
Metasequoia glyptostroboides (水杉, shui shan), dawn redwood, is a deciduous conifer and living fossil from Lichuan, Hubei, China; described from fossils by Miki in 1941, rediscovered alive in the 1940s, named by Hu and Cheng in 1948, and endangered in the wild.
Metrosideros
Metrosideros, the rātā and pōhutukawa genus of Myrtaceae, is a group of about 60 Pacific woody species with centres of diversity in New Zealand and New Caledonia, wind-dispersed seeds, red flowers, and vulnerability to myrtle rust and rapid ʻōhiʻa death.
Metroxylon
Metroxylon Rottb. is a genus of hapaxanthic sago palms in Arecaceae, native from Maluku to the western Pacific; its trunk starch yields sago, with M. sagu the true sago palm of Southeast Asia.
Meyer lemon
Meyer lemon (Citrus × meyeri), a Chinese lemon-orange hybrid brought to the US by Frank Meyer in 1908; sweeter, thinner-skinned, and hardier than true lemons, sold today as the virus-free Improved Meyer after UC Riverside's 1970s clean-up of tristeza virus carriers.
Miconia
Miconia (Ruiz & Pav.) is a large Neotropical genus of Melastomataceae shrubs and trees with about 1,893 accepted species, native to tropical and subtropical America, introduced to Hawaii and Indian Ocean islands, and including rare Atlantic Forest endemics such as Miconia ulei.
Miconia calvescens
Miconia calvescens (velvet tree, purple plague), a Melastomataceae tree from Central and South America, is a notorious Pacific island invader that has overrun Tahiti's forests and is targeted by eradication programs in Hawaii, Australia, and New Caledonia.
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.
Microcystin
Microcystins are a family of more than 250 cyclic heptapeptide liver toxins produced by cyanobacteria during blooms, named after Microcystis aeruginosa and first characterized in the early 1980s.
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.