''Cerbera'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s or shrubs, native to tropical

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, Australia,

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, and various islands in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

and the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. Three trees of this genus are mangroves, ''

Cerbera floribunda ''Cerbera floribunda'', commonly known as cassowary plum, grey milkwood, or rubber tree, is a plant in the family Apocynaceae which is native to the region from Sulawesi to the Solomon Islands, including north east Queensland. Description ...

'', ''

Cerbera manghas ''Cerbera manghas'', the sea mango, is a small evergreen coastal tree growing up to tall. It is native to coastal areas in Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific islands. It is classified as one of the three species in the genus Cerbera that ...

'' and ''

Cerbera odollam ''Cerbera odollam'' is a tree species in the family Apocynaceae commonly known as the ''suicide tree'', ''pong-pong'', ''mintolla'', and ''othalam.'' It bears a fruit known as ''othalanga (Malayalam: ഒതളങ്ങ)'' that yields a potent po ...

''. The leaves are alternate and lack interpetiolar stipules. The tubular corollas are actinomorphic, i.e. they are symmetric and can be divided in halves along any diameter. All trees contain a white

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

. The fruits are drupes. The genus is named after

Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the ...

because all its parts are poisonous : they contain cerberin, a cardiac

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycoside ...

, a substance that blocks electric impulses in the body (including the beating of the heart). Therefore, it is advised to avoid using wood from Cerbera species due to their

toxicity Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...

, and as their smoke may cause lethal poisoning. The genus is related to ''

Cerberiopsis ''Cerberiopsis'' is a genus of plant in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1873. The entire group is endemic to New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia ...

'',Potgieter, K., and V. A. Albert. (2001) Phylogenetic Relationships within Apocynaceae S.l. Based on trnL Intron and trnL-F Spacer Sequences and Propagule Characters.” Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 88 (4): 523–49. endemic to New Caledonia. ;Species *'' Cerbera dilatata'' Markgraf. - Chiute - Mariana Islands * '' Cerbera dumicola'' P.I.Forst. - Queensland * ''

'' K. Schumann – Cassowary Plum - Queensland, New Guinea, Maluku, Sulawesi, Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Micronesia * '' Cerbera inflata'' S.T. Blake – Grey Milkwood, Milky Pine - Queensland, Papua New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago * '' Cerbera laeta'' A.J.M.Leeuwenberg - Papua New Guinea * ''

'' L. - Tanzania, Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, S China, Ryukyu Islands, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Indochina, insular Southeast Asia, N Australia, numerous Pacific islands * ''

'' Gaertn. – Suicide Tree - India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Indochina, insular Southeast Asia, Queensland, numerous Pacific islands ;formerly included * ''Cerbera obovata'' Roem. & Schult. = '' Craspidospermum verticillatum'' Bojer ex Decne. * ''Cerbera oppositifolia'' Lam. = ''

Ochrosia oppositifolia ''Ochrosia oppositifolia'' grows as a small to medium-sized tree up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . Its flowers feature a creamy to white corolla. Its habitat is coastal forest, bush or open areas to altitude, rarely inland. Local med ...

'' (Lam.) K.Schum.

References

Gallery

Image:Cerbera manghas.jpg, ''Cerbera manghas'' tree in Hong Kong, early June. Image:Cerbera manghas flower.jpg, ''Cerbera manghas'' flowers Apocynaceae genera {{Apocynaceae-stub