Pleurothallis is a genus of orchids commonly called bonnet orchids. The genus name is derived from the Greek word pleurothallos, meaning "riblike branches". This refers to the rib-like stems of many species. The genus is often abbreviated as "Pths" in horticultural trade.
Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a total of c. 2244 species worldwide. It includes a number of other well known cultivated plants, such as freesias, gladioli and crocuses.
The Ulmaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes the elms, and the zelkovas. Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the north temperate zone, and have a scattered distribution elsewhere except for Australasia.
Catharanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. Like the genus Vinca, they are known commonly as periwinkles. There are eight known species. Seven are endemic to Madagascar, though one, C. roseus, is widely naturalized around the world. The eighth species, C. pusillus, is native to India and Sri Lanka. The name Catharanthus comes from the Greek for "pure flower".
The Monimiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the magnoliid order Laurales. It is closely related to the families Hernandiaceae and Lauraceae. It consists of shrubs, small trees, and a few lianas of the tropics and subtropics, mostly in the southern hemisphere. The largest center of diversity is New Guinea, with about 75 species. Lesser centres of diversity are Madagascar, Australia, and the neotropics. Africa has one species, Xymalos monospora, as does Southern Chile. Several species are distributed through Malesia and the southwest Pacific.
Peter Hamilton Raven is an American botanist and environmentalist, notable as the longtime director, now President Emeritus, of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Geosiris is a genus in the flowering plant family Iridaceae, first described in 1894. It was thought for many years to contain only one species, Geosiris aphylla, endemic to Madagascar. But then in 2010, a second species was described, Geosiris albiflora, from Mayotte Island in the Indian Ocean northwest of Madagascar.
Aira is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to western and southern Europe, central and southwest Asia, plus Africa.
Croton is an extensive flowering plant genus in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. The plants of this genus were described and introduced to Europeans by Georg Eberhard Rumphius. The common names for this genus are rushfoil and croton, but the latter also refers to Codiaeum variegatum. The generic name comes from the Greek κρότος, which means "tick" and refers to the shape of the seeds of certain species.
Alluaudia procera, or Madagascar ocotillo, is a deciduous succulent plant species of the family Didiereaceae. It is endemic to south Madagascar.
Orfilea is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1858. It is native to Madagascar and other islands in the Indian Ocean.
- Orfilea ankafinensis(Baill.) Radcl.-Sm. & Govaerts - W Madagascar
- Orfilea coriaceaBaill. - Comoros, Madagascar
- Orfilea multispicata(Baill.) G.L.Webster - Madagascar
- Orfilea neraudiana(Baill.) G.L.Webster - Mauritius
Phylloxylon is a genus of flowering plants in the Indigofereae tribe of the family Fabaceae. There are seven species, all endemic to Madagascar.
Acianthera is a genus of orchids native to the tropical parts of the Western Hemisphere, especially Brazil. It was first described in 1842 but was not widely recognized until recently. Most of the species were formerly placed under Pleurothallis subgenus Acianthera. This splitting is a result of recent DNA sequencing.
Midongy du sud National Park is a national park in the region of Atsimo-Atsinanana, in south-east Madagascar. The 192,000 hectares park has the second largest rainforest on the island and is rich in endemic animals and plants, especially medicinal plants.
Ambohijanahary Special Reserve is a wildlife reserve in the regions of Menabe and Melaky in Madagascar. The reserve was created in 1958 to protect the sclerophyllous forest between Tsiroanomandidy and Maintirano, as well as protecting the many endemic species of plants and animals.
Disynstemon paullinioides is a species of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It is a liana that is native to Madagascar. It is the only member of the genus Disynstemon.
Dr. Charlotte M. Taylor is a botanist and professor specialising in taxonomy and conservation. She works with the large plant family Rubiaceae, particularly found in the American tropics and in the tribes Palicoureeae and Psychotrieae. This plant family is an economically important group, as it includes plant species used to make coffee and quinine. Taylor also conducts work related to the floristics of Rubiaceae and morphological radiations of the group. Taylor has collected plant samples from many countries across the globe, including Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and the United States of America, and has named many new species known to science from these regions. As of 2015, Taylor has authored 278 land plant species' names, the seventh-highest number of such names authored by any female scientist.
Barthlottia madagascariensis is the only species in the genus Barthlottia of flowering plants in the family Scrophulariaceae. The large shrub with conspicuous purple flowers is native to a very restricted area in southeast Madagascar and was described in 1996.
Friesodielsia is a genus of flowering plants in the custard apple and soursop family Annonaceae, with all species found in the Old World, mostly in the tropics. A molecular study shows that Friesodielsia should be more narrowly circumscribed, with the only species remaining being the Asian ones, which can also be distinguished by their possession of globose or ellipsoid monocarps, and six petals per flower arranged in two whorls.
