The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules and sympetalous actinomorphic flowers. The family contains about 13,500 species in about 620 genera, which makes it the fourth-largest angiosperm family. Rubiaceae has a cosmopolitan distribution; however, the largest species diversity is concentrated in the tropics and subtropics. Economically important species include Coffea, the source of coffee, Cinchona, the source of the antimalarial alkaloid quinine, some dye plants, and ornamental cultivars.
Common chicory is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the daisy family Asteraceae, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons, or roots, which are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute and food additive. In the 21st century, inulin, an extract from chicory root, has been used in food manufacturing as a sweetener and source of dietary fiber.
Helianthus is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae. Except for three South American species, the species of Helianthus are native to North America and Central America. The common names "sunflower" and "common sunflower" typically refer to the popular annual species Helianthus annuus, whose round flower heads in combination with the ligules look like the sun. This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke, are cultivated in temperate regions and some tropical regions as food crops for humans, cattle, and poultry, and as ornamental plants. The species H. annuus typically grows during the summer and into early fall, with the peak growth season being mid-summer.
Argyreia nervosa is a perennial climbing vine native to the Indian subcontinent and introduced to numerous areas worldwide, including Hawaii, Africa, and the Caribbean. Though it can be invasive, it is often prized for its aesthetic and medicinal value. Common names include Hawaiian baby woodrose, adhoguda अधोगुडा or vidhara विधारा (Sanskrit), elephant creeper and woolly morning glory. Its seeds are known for their powerful entheogenic value, greater or similar to those of varieties from the Convolvulaceae family, with users reporting significant psychedelic and spiritual experiences. The two botanical varieties are A. n. var. nervosa described here, and A. n. var. speciosa, which are used in Ayurvedic medicine for their medicinal value.
Diospyros virginiana is a persimmon species commonly called the American persimmon, common persimmon, eastern persimmon, simmon, possumwood, possum apples, or sugar plum. It ranges from southern Connecticut to Florida, and west to Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa. The tree grows wild but has been cultivated for its fruit and wood since prehistoric times by Native Americans.
Coffea arabica, also known as the Arabian coffee, "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee" or "arabica coffee", is a species of Coffea. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, and is the dominant cultivar, representing about 60% of global production. Coffee produced from the robusta bean makes up most of the remaining coffee production. Arabica coffee originates from Ethiopia and was first cultivated in Yemen, and documented by the 12th century. Coffea arabica is called بُنّ in Arabic, borrowed from the Oromo "Buna".
Psychotria viridis is a perennial, shrubby flowering plant in the coffee family Rubiaceae. It is a close relative of Psychotria carthagenensis of Ecuador. In the Quechua languages it is called chacruna or chacrona. In Quechua, chaqruy is a verb meaning "to mix".
Okra or Okro, Abelmoschus esculentus, known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods. It is a good source of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of West African, Ethiopian, and South Asian origins. Traditionally, Okra is a southern U.S plant that thrives in relatively warmer temperatures. It is also easy to grow. As a result, the plant is cultivated in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions around the world.
Senna obtusifolia, the Chinese senna, American sicklepod or sicklepod, is a plant in the genus Senna, sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Diallobus. It grows wild in North, Central, and South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and is considered a particularly serious weed in many places. It has a long-standing history of confusion with Senna tora and that taxon in many sources actually refers to the present species.
Senna tora is a plant species in the family Fabaceae and the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Its name is derived from its Sinhala name tora (තෝර). It grows wild in most of the tropics and is considered a weed in many places. Its native range is in Central America. Its most common English name is sickle senna or sickle wild sensitive-plant. Other common names include sickle pod, tora, coffee pod, tovara, chakvad, thakara in Malayalam and foetid cassia. It is often confused with Chinese senna or sicklepod, Senna obtusifolia.
Banksia alliacea is a species of shrub that is endemic to southwestern Western Australia. It grows to 2 m high and wide, with shaving brush-shaped inflorescences that smell of onions.
A civet is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different mammal species. Most of the species diversity is found in southeast Asia. The best-known civet species is the African civet, Civettictis civetta, which historically has been the main species from which a musky scent used in perfumery was obtained. The word civet may also refer to the distinctive musky scent produced by the animals.
Chiococca alba is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) native to Florida and the extreme southern tip of Texas in the United States, Bermuda, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Galápagos, and tropical South America. Common names include David's milkberry, West Indian milkberry, cahinca and West Indian snowberry. The specific epithet, alba, means "white" in Latin and refers to the color of its fruits.
Wild coffee is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
Ceanothus americanus is a species of Ceanothus shrub native to North America. Common names include New Jersey tea, Jersey tea ceanothus, variations of red root, mountain sweet, and wild snowball. New Jersey tea was a name coined during the American Revolution, because its leaves were used as a substitute for imported tea.
Psychotria ligustrifolia, the Bahama wild coffee, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas.
Poa mannii is a rare species of grass known by the common names Mann's bluegrass and Olokele Gulch bluegrass. It is endemic to Hawaii, where it is limited to the island of Kauai. It is threatened by the loss and modification of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Zanthoxylum spinosum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae known by the common name Biscayne prickly-ash. It is native to the West Caribbean, including South Florida and the Florida Keys, Cuba, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and Hispaniola.
Pyrausta tyralis, the coffee-loving pyrausta moth, is a moth in the family Crambidae. It was described by Achille Guenée in 1854. It is found in the United States, where it has been recorded from New York to Illinois and from Florida to Arizona. It is also found from Mexico to Venezuela, as well as on the West Indies.
Psychotria tenuifolia, commonly known as velvet-leaved wild coffee, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to southern Florida, South America and the Caribbean.. The description of velvet is based on the silky appearance that the leaves display in relation to other species of the same plant family.
