''Excoecaria'' is a

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

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 ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...

, formally described by Linnaeus in 1759. The genus is native to the Old World

Tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referr ...

(

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, southern

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 ...

, northern Australia, and assorted oceanic islands).Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
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Etymology

Genus name, ''Excoecaria'', is from the Latin word ''excaeco'', which means "to blind" and refers to the sap of the plants that can cause temporary blindness.

Toxic latex

The milky

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 ...

of ''

Excoecaria agallocha ''Excoecaria agallocha'', a mangrove species, belongs to the genus '' Excoecaria'' of the family Euphorbiaceae. The species has many common names, including blind-your-eye mangrove, blinding tree, buta buta tree, milky mangrove, poisonfish tree ...

'', also known as ''Thillai'', milky mangrove, blind-your-eye mangrove and river poison tree, is poisonous. Mangroves of this plant surround the ancient Thillai Chidambaram Temple in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. Contact with skin can cause irritation and rapid blistering; contact with eyes will result in temporary blindness. It is distributed in the

Pichavaram Pichavaram is a village near Chidambaram in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located between the Vellar estuary in the north and Coleroon estuary in the south. The Vellar-Coleroon estuarine complex forms the Killai backwater and t ...

wetlands, near Chidambaram India, in Australia from northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, along the northern coastline around to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

.The latex is extremely poisonous. Even dried and powdered leaves contain the poison which can kill fish very quickly.

Species list

The list of currently recognized species in this genus.

Former species

These species were once included in ''Excoecaria'' but are not now consider members of this genus. They have been moved to these other genera: '' Actinostemon,

Adenopeltis ''Adenopeltis'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1832. Its name comes from Greek and means "glandular shield". It contains only one known species, ''Adenopeltis serrata'', endemic to the central part of t ...

Alchornea ''Alchornea'' is a plant genus of the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1788. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, South Asia, Australia, Latin America, and various oceanic islands. Mo ...

, Anomostachys,

Bocquillonia ''Bocquillonia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1862. The entire genus is endemic to New Caledonia (including smaller islands that are part of the territory). Molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest tha ...

, Bonania,

Cerbera ''Cerbera'' is a genus of evergreen small trees or shrubs, native to tropical Asia, Australia, Madagascar, and various islands in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Three trees of this genus are mangroves, '' Cerbera floribunda'', ...

Falconeria ''Falconeria'' is a monotypic plant genus in the family Euphorbiaceae, first described as a genus in 1839. The genus is sometimes included within the genus ''Sapium''. The sole species is ''Falconeria insignis''. The plant is found from India, Ne ...

Grimmeodendron ''Grimmeodendron'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1908. It is native to the West Indies. ;Species # '' Grimmeodendron eglandulosum'' (A.Rich.) Urb. - Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic, Hait ...

, Gymnanthes, Homalanthus, Maprounea, Microstachys, Neoshirakia,

Sapium ''Sapium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread across most of Latin America and the West Indies. Many Old World species were formerly included in the genus, but recent authors have redistributed all the ...

Sclerocroton ''Sclerocroton'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1845. There a total of 6 known species in this genus; 5 species in continental Africa and a single species in Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madaga ...

, Sebastiania, Shirakiopsis,

Spirostachys ''Spirostachys'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1850. It is native to Africa.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1- ...

, Stillingia, and Triadica''.

References

External links

milky mangrove
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3237072 Euphorbiaceae genera