Asafoetida is the dried latex exuded from the rhizome or tap root of several species of Ferula, perennial herbs of the carrot family. It is produced in Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, northern South Asia, and Northwest China (Xinjiang). Different regions have different botanical sources.
Serissa is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae, containing only one species, Serissa japonica. It is native to open sub-tropical woodlands and wet meadows in southeast Asia, from India, and China to Japan. It is commonly called the snowrose, tree of a thousand stars, or Japanese boxthorn; and was formerly called Serissa foetida. 'Foetida' referres to the unpleasant, vomit-like, odour that the trees give off if their leaves are pruned or bruised. Snowrose and tree of a thousand stars are different cultivars. The only method of differentiating is measuring the difference in the shape and size of the flowers produced.
Ferula is a genus of about 220 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to central Asia, mostly growing in arid climates. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 1–4 m tall, with stout, hollow, somewhat succulent stems. The leaves are tripinnate or even more finely divided, with a stout basal sheath clasping the stem. The flowers are usually yellow, rarely white, produced in large umbels. Many plants of this genus, especially F. communis, are referred to as "giant fennel," although they are not fennel in the strict sense.
Orchidantha is a genus of flowering plants. In the APG III system, it is placed in the family Lowiaceae, as the sole genus. It includes the plants in the formerly recognised genera Lowia and Protamomum.
Eugenia is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,100 species occur in the New World tropics, especially in the northern Andes, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil. Other centers of diversity include New Caledonia and Madagascar. Many of the species that occur in the Old World have received a new classification into the genus Syzygium.
Furcraea foetida is a species of flowering plant native to the Caribbean and northern South America. It is widely cultivated and reportedly naturalized in many places
Actephila is a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae, first described as a genus in 1826. It is one of 8 genera in the tribe Poranthereae, and is most closely related to Leptopus. The name of the genus is derived from two Greek words, akte, "the seashore", and philos, "loving". It refers to a coastal habitat.
Mellissia was formerly a monotypic genus in the family Solanaceae with the single species, Mellissia begoniifolia, endemic to the island of Saint Helena. It was named by Joseph Dalton Hooker in honour of John Charles Melliss, a 19th-century engineer and amateur naturalist who worked on Saint Helena. The plant is now known correctly as Withania begoniifolia (Roxb.) Hunz. & Barboza, the genus Mellissia having been subsumed in the genus Withania.
Sutera is a genus of annual and perennial flowering plants and shrubs of the family Scrophulariaceae mainly confined to Africa.
Anagyris is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae.
Guzmania confusa is a plant species in the genus Guzmania. This species is native to Ecuador and Colombia. Two varieties are recognized:
- Guzmania confusa var. confusa - Colombia
- Guzmania confusa var. foetidaRauh - Ecuador
Vestia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae containing the single species Vestia foetida (syn. V. lycioides). Its principal common names in the Mapudungun language of its native Chile are Huevil (pron. "wayfil" and sometimes redoubled Huevilhuevil) and Chuplín. Other Chilean names include Chuplí, Echuelcún and Palqui (negro) (this last being also applied to Cestrum parqui), while an English common name Chilean box thorn has also been coined recently in reference to a certain similarity of the plant to some species in the box thorn / wolfberry genus Lycium (as referenced also in the former specific name lycioides, meaning "Lycium-like"). Vestia foetida is endemic to central and southern Chile, being found in an area stretching from the Valparaíso Region in the north to Chiloé Island (in the Los Lagos Region) in the south. Growing to 2 m (7 ft) tall by 1.5 m (5 ft) broad, it is an evergreen shrub with glossy, privet-like, mid-green leaves. In spring and summer it bears tubular yellow flowers to 3 cm (1 in) long, with stamens so markedly exserted (= protruding) as to recall those of certain Fuchsia species, followed by 4-valved, ovoid capsules to 1 cm (0 in), containing small, prismatic seeds.
Voacanga is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae found in Africa, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Australia. As of August 2013 the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognises 13 species:
- Voacanga africanaStapf ex Scott-Elliot - tropical W + C + E + S Africa
- Voacanga bracteataStapf - tropical W + C Africa
- Voacanga caudifloraStapf - tropical W Africa
- Voacanga chalotianaPierre ex Stapf - tropical C Africa
- Voacanga foetida(Blume) Rolfe -Java, Borneo, Sumatra, Philippines
- Voacanga globosa(Blanco) Merr. - Philippines
- Voacanga gracilipes(Miq.) Markgr. - Maluku
- Voacanga grandifolia(Miq.) Rolfe - Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Queensland
- Voacanga havilandiiRidl. - Sarawak
- Voacanga megacarpaMerr. - Philippines
- Voacanga pachycerasLeeuwenb. - Zaïre
- Voacanga psilocalyxPierre ex Stapf - Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo
- Voacanga thouarsiiRoem. & Schult. Madagascar; widespread from Cape Province to Sudan + Senegal
- Voacanga dichotoma = Tabernaemontana pachysiphon
- Voacanga plumeriifolia = Tabernaemontana macrocarpa
Dorstenia foetida, also known as grendelion, is a succulent plant in the genus Dorstenia, which is native to Eastern Africa and Arabia. It is a very variable species with a wide distribution.
Pseudocaryopteris is a genus of plants first described in 1999. It is native to China, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Himalayas.
Ticorea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Rutaceae.
Desmidorchis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Apocynaceae.
Ferula assa-foetida is a species of Ferula endemic to Southern Iran. It is a source of asafoetida, but not the main source, although many sources claim so. The production of asafoetida from this species is confined to Southern Iran, especially the area near Lar.
Selinopsis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Apiaceae.
