Boerhavia | |
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Boerhavia diffusa | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Nyctaginaceae |
Tribe: | Nyctagineae |
Genus: | Boerhavia L. |
Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
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Boerhavia is a genus of over 100 species in the Nyctaginaceae family. The genus was named for Herman Boerhaave, a Dutch botanist, and the genus name is frequently misspelled "Boerhaavia". Common names include spiderlings and hogweeds.
There are over 100 species in the genus Boerhavia, which is in the family Nyctaginaceae, which includes the four o'clock flower. [1]
The genus was named for the Dutch botanist Herman Boerhaave, and often misspelt as "Boerhaavia". Common names include spiderlings and hogweeds.[ citation needed ]
Some species are annuals and others perennials. In habit they generally are herbaceous.
"Spiderling" refers to the appearance of those species that bear inflorescences on numerous long, slender stems, interlocking in a manner suggestive of a spider or spider's web.
Boerhavia species generally are native to warm tropical regions.
Several species of Boerhavia are of importance as agricultural and horticultural weeds. Some are valued as forage for grazing livestock, and some, such as Boerhavia erecta , also are of use as human food and folk medicine.[ citation needed ]
Species include:
Rorippa is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to Europe through central Asia, Africa, and North America. Rorippa species are annual to perennial herbs, usually with yellow flowers and a peppery flavour. They are known commonly as yellowcresses.
Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a distinctive fruit type called an accessory fruit or anthocarp, and many genera have extremely large pollen grains.
Cordyline is a genus of about 24 species of woody monocotyledonous flowering plants in family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae. The subfamily has previously been treated as a separate family Laxmanniaceae, or Lomandraceae. Other authors have placed the genus in the Agavaceae. Cordyline is native to the western Pacific Ocean region, from New Zealand, eastern Australia, southeastern Asia and Polynesia, with one species found in southeastern South America.
Schefflera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae with 13 species native to New Zealand and some Pacific islands.
Heracleum sphondylium, commonly known as hogweed or common hogweed, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, which includes fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and giant hogweed. It is native to most of Europe, western Asia and northern Africa, but is introduced in North America and elsewhere. Other common names include cow parsnip. The flowers provide a great deal of nectar for pollinators.
Pisonia is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees or birdlime trees because they catch birds. The sticky seeds are postulated to be an adaptation of some island species that ensures the dispersal of seeds between islands by attaching them to birds, and also allows the enriching of coralline sands. These island species include P. brunoniana of Australasia and Polynesia and P. umbellifera, which is widespread in the tropical Indo-Pacific region.
Stephania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Menispermaceae, native to eastern and southern Asia and Australia. They are herbaceous perennial vines, growing to around four metres tall, with a large tuber. The leaves are arranged spirally on the stem and are peltate, with the leaf petiole attached near the centre of the leaf. The name Stephania comes from the Greek, "a crown". This refers to the anthers being arranged in a crown-like manner.
The Bramble Cay melomys, or Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat, is a recently extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae and subfamily Murinae. It was an endemic species of the isolated Bramble Cay, a low-lying vegetated coral cay with a habitable area of approximately 5 acres (2.0 ha) located at the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Described by researchers as having last been seen in 2009 and declared extinct by the Queensland Government and University of Queensland researchers in 2016, it was formally declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in May 2015 and the Australian government in February 2019. Having been the only mammal endemic to the reef, its extinction was described as the first extinction of a mammal species due to anthropogenic climate change.
Barringtonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lecythidaceae first described as a genus with this name in 1775. It is native to Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The genus name commemorates Daines Barrington.
Lepturus is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to Asia, Africa, Australia, and various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Geniostoma is a genus of around 49 species of flowering plants in the family Loganiaceae. They are shrubs or small trees, with inflorescences borne in the axils of the simple, petiolate, oppositely-arranged leaves. The flowers are arranged in cymes, and each is pentamerous.
Haloragis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Haloragaceae. Some species are known commonly as seaberry and most are native to the southern hemisphere. They are annual or perennial herbs to small shrubs, and many are terrestrial wetland plants.
Ceodes umbellifera, synonym Pisonia umbellifera, commonly known as the birdlime tree or bird catcher tree, is a species of plant in the Nyctaginaceae family. The evergreen shrub has soft wood, small pink or yellow flowers, and produces cavate brown fruit throughout the period March to April. The species has been categorized under different genera in its documented lifetime, being reallocated between Pisonia and Ceodes. Its former genus, Pisonia, is named after a Dutch scientist, Willem Piso, and umbellifera is derived from Latin umbelliferum, denoting the species' big, 'shade-carrying' foliage.
Boerhavia coccinea is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family which is known by many common names, including tar vinescarlet spiderling and red boerhavia.
Bramble Cay, also known as Maizab Kaur and Massaramcoer, is a small cay located at the northeastern edge of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands of Queensland and at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. Lying around 50 km (31 mi) north of Erub Island in the Gulf of Papua, it is the northernmost point of land of Australia and marks the end of the Great Barrier Reef.
Gundlachia, commonly called goldenshrub, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.
Boerhavia diffusa is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family which is commonly known as punarnava, red spiderling, spreading hogweed, or tarvine. It is taken in herbal medicine for pain relief and other uses. The leaves of Boerhavia diffusa are often used as a green vegetable in many parts of India.
Anton Heimerl was an Austrian botanist.
Boerhavia erecta, commonly known as the erect spiderling or the erect boerhavia, is one of more than 100 species in the genus Boerhavia L. Boerhavia erecta is native to the United States, Mexico, Central America, Angola and western South America, but now is cosmopolitan in tropical and subtropical regions. In Africa its distribution extends from West Africa, eastwards to Somalia and down to South Africa. It has recently been found in parts of Madagascar and Réunion. In Asia, it occurs in India, Java, Malaysia, the Philippines, China and the Ryukyu Islands.