Smilax is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. They are climbing flowering plants, many of which are woody and/or thorny, in the monocotyledon family Smilacaceae, native throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Common names include catbriers, greenbriers, prickly-ivys and smilaxes. Sarsaparilla is a name used specifically for the Neotropical S. ornata as well as a catch-all term in particular for American species. Occasionally, the non-woody species such as the smooth herbaceous greenbrier are separated as genus Nemexia; they are commonly known by the rather ambiguous name carrion flowers.
Aralia, or spikenard, is a genus of the family Araliaceae, consisting of 68 accepted species of deciduous or evergreen trees, shrubs, and rhizomatous herbaceous perennials. The genus is native to Asia and the Americas, with most species occurring in mountain woodlands. Aralia plants vary in size, with some herbaceous species only reaching 50 centimetres (20 in) tall, while some are trees growing to 20 metres (66 ft) tall.
Ajuga, also known as bugleweed, ground pine, carpet bugle, or just bugle, is a genus of flowering plants in the Ajugeae tribe of the mint family Lamiaceae. There are over 60 species of annual or perennial, mostly herbaceous plants. They are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
Ampelopsis, commonly known as peppervine or porcelainberry, is a genus of climbing shrubs, in the grape family Vitaceae. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek: ἅμπελος (ampelos), which means "vine". The genus was named in 1803. It is disjunctly distributed in eastern Asia and eastern North America extending to Mexico. Ampelopsis is primarily found in mountainous regions in temperate zones with some species in montane forests at mid-altitudes in subtropical to tropical regions. Ampelopsis glandulosa is a popular garden plant and an invasive weed.
Pueraria is a genus of 15–20 species of legumes native to south, east, and southeast Asia and to New Guinea and northern Australia. The best known member is kudzu, also called Japanese arrowroot. The genus is named after 19th century Swiss botanist Marc Nicolas Puerari.
Lespedeza is a genus of some 45 species of flowering plants in the pea family (Fabaceae), commonly known as bush clovers or Japanese clovers (hagi). The genus is native to warm temperate to subtropical regions of eastern North America, eastern and southern Asia and Australasia.
Tetrastigma is a genus of plants in the grape family, Vitaceae. The plants are lianas that climb with tendrils and have palmately compound leaves. Plants are dioecious, with separate male and female plants; female flowers are characterized by their four-lobed stigmas. The species are found in subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Malaysia, and Australia, where they grow in primary rainforest, gallery forest and monsoon forest and moister woodland. Species of this genus are notable as being the sole hosts of parasitic plants in the family Rafflesiaceae, one of which, Rafflesia arnoldii, produces the largest single flower in the world. Tetrastigma is the donor species for horizontal gene transfer to Sapria and Rafflesia due to multiple gene theft events.
Christia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae.
Dendrolobium is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It includes 21 species of mostly trees and shrubs and rarely herbs. Species range from eastern Africa to Madagascar, India, Indochina, southern China, Malesia, Papuasia, northern and western Australia, and the southwestern Pacific. Typical habitats include seasonally-dry tropical forest and woodland, bamboo thickets, and grassland.
Hylodesmum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, sometimes called ticktrefoils or tick-trefoils. It is sometimes treated as part of Desmodium. It includes 16 species native to eastern North America, sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen, south, southeast, and eastern Asia, Malesia, and New Guinea.
Uraria is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 24 species of shrubs and subshrubs native to sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, China, Malesia, Papuasia, Australia, and the South Pacific. Typical habitats are seasonally-dry tropical woodland or grassland. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae and the tribe Desmodieae.
The tribe Desmodieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae. It is composed of two subtribes, Desmodiinae and Lespedezinae. Recent phylogenetics has this tribe nested within tribe Phaseoleae.
Phanera is a genus of flowering plants in the legume subfamily Cercidoideae and the tribe Bauhinieae. This genus differs from Bauhinia in being vines or lianas, generally with tendrils and a lobed rather than spathaceous calyx, and from Schnella in having only three fertile stamens rather than ten, and being native to the Indomalayan realm and the Australasian realm rather than the Americas. The subsection Corymbosae was recently segregated into a new genus, Cheniella. It has been suggested that the genus Lasiobema should be reduced to a section within Phanera.
Ototropis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, found from Afghanistan, the Indian Subcontinent through to southern China including Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia and on to New Guinea, and introduced to Japan. There has been some nomenclatural confusion regarding this taxon over the centuries.
Sohmaea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Fabaceae.
Sunhangia is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family (Fabaceae). It includes six species, which range from Afghanistan through Pakistan, India, Tibet, Myanmar, and south-central and north-central China. The species in the genus were formerly placed in genus Desmodium.
