Alternanthera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. It is a widespread genus with most species occurring in the tropical Americas, and others in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Plants of the genus may be known generally as joyweeds, or Joseph's coat. Several species are notorious noxious weeds.
Alternanthera philoxeroides, commonly referred to as alligator weed, is a native species to the temperate regions of South America, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Argentina alone hosts around 27 species that fall within the range of the genus Alternanthera. Its geographic range once used to cover only the Parana River region of South America, but it has since expanded to cover over 30 countries, such as the United States, New Zealand, China and many more. This invasive species is believed to have been accidentally introduced to these non-native regions through sediments trapped/attached to tanks and cargo of ships travelling from South America to these various areas.
Calamus is a genus of flowering plants in the palm family Arecaceae that are among several genera known as rattan palms. There are an estimated 400 species in this genus, all native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and Australia. They are dioecious, mostly leaf-climbing lianas with slender, reedy stems. To aid scrambling some species have evolved hooks on the underside of the midrib, or more commonly by modified "pinnae" or tendrils in the form of stout, backward-pointing spines. These stems may grow to lengths of 200 metres.
Pandanus is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malesia. Common names include pandan, screw palm, and screw pine. They are classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae.
Hakea is a genus of about 150 species of plants in the Family Proteaceae and are endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are sometimes divided. The flowers are usually arranged in groups in leaf axils and resemble those of other genera, especially Grevillea. Hakeas have woody fruit which distinguishes them from grevilleas which have non-woody fruit which release the seeds as they mature. Hakeas are found in every state of Australia with the highest species diversity being found in the south west of Western Australia.
Argyranthemum is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. Members of this genus are sometimes also placed in the genus Chrysanthemum.
A popular house plant, Streptocarpus, is an Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is native to Afromontane biotopes from central, eastern and southern Africa, including Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. The flowers are five-petalled, salverform tubes, almost orchid-like in appearance, and hover or arch over the plant, while the pointed, elongate fruit is of a helical form similar to that of the "tusk" of a narwhal. In the wild, species can be found growing on shaded rocky hillsides or cliffs, on the ground, in rock crevices, and almost anywhere the seed can germinate and grow. For the home, there are now many hybrids of various colours and forms available.
Astartea is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus is endemic to southwestern Western Australia. The genus name was inspired by Astarte, the Greek name for the goddess Ishtar.
Najas minor, known as brittle naiad or brittle waternymph, is an annual aquatic plant, a submersed herb. It is native to Europe, Asia and North Africa from the Netherlands to Morocco east to Japan and the Philippines, including China, Siberia, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, Ukraine, Germany, France Italy and a host of other countries. It is now introduced to North America and considered a weedy invasive species in the eastern half of the United States from Florida to Oklahoma to New Hampshire to Ontario to South Dakota. This plant prefers calm waters, such as ponds, reservoirs, and lakes, and is capable of growing in depths up to 4 meters.
Conocarpus is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical regions of the world. One of the species is a widespread mangrove species, and the other is restricted to a small area around the southern Red Sea coasts, where it grows alongside seasonal rivers.
Passerina is a genus in the plant family Thymelaeaceae. They are ericoid bushes growing largely in fynbos and other Southern African scrub habitats.
Metroxylon is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the Arecaceae (palm) family, consisting of seven species. They are native to Western Samoa, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Moluccas, the Carolines and Fiji in a variety of habitats, and cultivated westward to Thailand and Malaya.
Eleocharis is a virtually cosmopolitan genus of 250 or more species of flowering plants in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἕλειος (heleios), meaning "marsh dweller," and χάρις (charis), meaning "grace." Members of the genus are known commonly as spikerushes or spikesedges. The genus has a geographically cosmopolitan distribution, with centers of diversity in the Amazon Rainforest and adjacent eastern slopes of the South American Andes, northern Australia, eastern North America, California, Southern Africa, and subtropical Asia. The vast majority of Eleocharis species grow in aquatic or mesic habitats from sea level to higher than 5,000 meters in elevation.
Mesembryanthemum cordifolium formerly known as Aptenia cordifolia is a species of succulent plant in the iceplant family. The common names of the plant include baby sun rose,. heart-leaf, red aptenia or aptenia in English, as well as rooi brakvygie or brakvygie in Afrikaans, and umjuluka, ibohlololo, or uncolozi omncane in isiZulu in South Africa. It is known as heartleaf iceplant in the USA British names may be heart-leaved aptenia or heart-leaved midday flower because, like many other representatives of the Aizoaceae, it opens its flowers only during the sunshine of the day. It is a creeping plant that forms a carpet of flat-growing perennial herbs in groups on the ground from a base. Genus name means middle-embryo flower in reference to the position of the ovary in the flower. The specific epithet is derived from Latin for heart-shaped leaves.
Ceriops is a genus of mangroves in family Rhizophoraceae.
AnacampserosL. is a genus comprising about a hundred species of small perennial succulent plants native to Southern Africa. The botanical name Anacampseros is an ancient one for herbs supposed to restore lost love.
Chukrasia tabularis, the Indian mahogany, is a deciduous, tropical forest tree species in the family Meliaceae. It is native to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Also introduced to many western countries such as Cameroon, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and United States.
Strychnos madagascariensis, the black monkey orange, is an African tropical and sub-tropical tree belonging to the Loganiaceae family. It is a tree with characteristically large fruit but can confused with some other species of the genus.
Dorstenia foetida 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.
Grewia robusta is a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree, up to 3 m high, endemic to the semi-desert Karoo of South Africa, and very similar to Grewia occidentalis. It is one of some 325 species of Grewia in the family Malvaceae, and having a tropical African, Asian and Australian distribution. It is found in the arid regions of the Karoo and Eastern Cape, and generally prefers growing among dry scrub on rocky hillsides.
