The Piperaceae, also known as the pepper family, are a large family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in 5 genera. The vast majority of species can be found within the two main genera: Piper and Peperomia.
Leucojum is a small genus of bulbous plants native to Eurasia belonging to the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. As currently circumscribed, the genus includes only two known species, most former species having been moved into the genus Acis. Both genera are known as snowflakes.
Verbascum, common name mullein, is a genus of about 360 species of flowering plants in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean.
Chenopodium album is a fast-growing weedy annual plant in the genus Chenopodium. Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed. Common names include lamb's quarters, melde, goosefoot, manure weed, wild spinach and fat-hen, though the latter two are also applied to other species of the genus Chenopodium, for which reason it is often distinguished as white goosefoot. Chenopodium album is extensively cultivated and consumed in Northern India as a food crop known as bathua.
Dasiphora fruticosa is a species of hardy deciduous flowering shrub in the family Rosaceae, native to the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere, often growing at high altitudes in mountains. Dasiphora fruticosa is a disputed name, and the plant is still widely referenced in the horticultural literature under its synonym Potentilla fruticosa. Common names include shrubby cinquefoil, golden hardhack, bush cinquefoil, shrubby five-finger, and widdy.
Fallopia is a genus of about 12 species of flowering plants in the buckwheat family, often included in a wider treatment of the related genus Polygonum in the past, and previously including Reynoutria. The genus is native to temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere, but species have been introduced elsewhere. The genus includes species forming vines and shrubs.
Lobularia is a genus of five species of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, closely related to the genus Alyssum. The genus is native to Macaronesia and the Mediterranean region, and comprises annuals and perennials growing to 10–40 cm (4–16 in) tall, with hairy oblong-oval leaves and clusters of cross-shaped (cruciform), fragrant white flowers.
Persicaria pensylvanica is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. It is native to parts of North America, where it is widespread in Canada and the United States. It has also been noted as an introduced species in parts of Europe and South America. Common names include Pennsylvania smartweed and pinkweed.
Acanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical and warm temperate regions, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean Basin and Asia. This flowering plant is nectar producing and is susceptible to predation by butterflies, such as Anartia fatima, and other nectar feeding organisms. Common names include Acanthus and Bear's breeches. The generic name derives from the Greek term ἄκανθος (akanthos) for Acanthus mollis, a plant that was commonly imitated in Corinthian capitals.
Echinodorus, commonly known as burhead or Amazon sword, is a genus of plants in the family Alismataceae, native to the Western Hemisphere from the central United States to Argentina. Its scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek echius – "rough husk" - and doros – "leathern bottle" - alluding to ovaries, which in some species are armed with persistent styles, forming prickly head of fruit. Some of the species are commonly cultivated in artificial aquatic habitats.
Parietaria judaica, with common names spreading pellitory or pellitory of the wall, is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the family Urticaceae. The plant's pollen is highly allergenic. In Australia it is also known as asthma weed, due to the high incidence of allergy. It is unrelated to the herb pellitory. It is easily confused with the very similar species Parietaria officinalis.
Puschkinia is a genus of three known species of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is native to the Caucasus and the Middle East. Puschkinia scilloides is grown as an ornamental bulbous plant.
Scilla section Chionodoxa, known as glory-of-the-snow, is a small group of bulbous perennial flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. Formerly treated as the separate genus Chionodoxa, they are now included in Scilla as a section. The section is endemic to the eastern Mediterranean, specifically Crete, Cyprus and Turkey. The blue, white or pink flowers appear early in the year making them valuable garden ornamentals. The common name of the group is based on the habit of flowering in high alpine zones when the snow melts in spring.
Gazania rigens, sometimes called treasure flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to southern Africa. It is naturalised elsewhere and is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant.
Lilaea is a monotypic genus of aquatic plants containing the single species Lilaea scilloides, which is known by the common names flowering quillwort, awl-leaf lilaea, and simply lilaea. The taxonomy of this plant has been in debate, with some authors assigning it to a family of its own named Lilaeaceae, and others keeping it in the small arrowgrass family, Juncaginaceae. It is native throughout the Americas and it can be found elsewhere as an introduced species, particularly in Australia. This is an annual herb growing in or just next to water in several types of shallow aquatic habitat, including vernal pools, mudflats, and ditches. The plant takes the form of a tuft of basal leaves around a very short stem. Each onionlike leaf is very narrow, long and pointed, reaching 25 to 40 centimeters long. It is wrapped in a translucent sheath at the base. The inflorescences include clusters of staminate and bisexual flowers at the tip of a narrow stalk as well as pistillate flowers in underwater axils. The pistillate flower is composed of a threadlike style which may be up to 20 centimeters long tipped with a stigma which floats on the water surface. The fruit is a beaked, ribbed nutlet up to a centimeter long.
Parietaria hespera is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family known by the common name rillita pellitory. It is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitat, from coast to desert, dry to moist, and sometimes in disturbed areas. It is an annual herb taking an erect or spreading form up to half a meter long or forming a mat or dense tangle. The stems may branch or not. They are lined with alternately arranged leaves up to 2 centimeters long and varying in shape from oval to round or somewhat kidney-shaped. The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers emerging from the leaf axils. The flower has no petals but greenish sepals which may be tinged yellowish or reddish brown.
Parietaria pensylvanica, commonly called Pennsylvania pellitory, is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family. It is native to much of North America including every province in Canada except the Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon Territory, every state in the United States except Alaska and Hawaii, plus northern Mexico. It is typically found in circumneutral or basic soils, in natural habitats such as calcareous cliffs and barrens, and in rich floodplains. It is also found disturbed areas.
Cydista is a genus that consists of more than twenty species of lowland, showy, evergreen, ornamental shrubs and woody vines, ranging from central and southern Mexico to Paraguay and eastern Brazil. The genus is characterized by the lack of a nectariferous disk and is associated with the multiple-bang flowering syndrome. All species are lianas with clusters of funnelform flowers, blooming twice a year in spring and fall. The flowers start of purple and change to a lighter shade of lavender with age, then fading to almost white, followed by linear oblong fruits and winged seeds. The plants are multi-stemmed with opposite, oval, glossy, dark-green leaves and 2 leaflets, and climb by tendrils arise from the leaf axils. Leaves smell like garlic when crushed.
Enemion biternatum, commonly known as the false rue-anemone, is a spring ephemeral native to moist deciduous woodland in the eastern United States and extreme southern Ontario.
Cornulaca monacantha is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cornulaca, that is now included in the family Amaranthaceae,. It is a desert plant found in the Middle East and the Sahara, and the southern end of its range is considered to delineate the edge of the desert. In Arabic it is known as had and djouri, and the Tuareg people call it tahara. It was first described in 1813 by the French botanist Alire Raffeneau Delile.
