''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 excl ...

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 The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by thei ...

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 refer ...

(

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, and assorted oceanic islands).Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>

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'', 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 Thillai Nataraja Temple, also referred as the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Nataraja, the form of Shiva as the lord of dance. This temple is located in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. This temple has ancient ro ...

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 wetlands, near Chidambaram India, in

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 t ...

.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 ''Actinostemon'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1841. It is native to South America, Central America, and the West Indies.González Ramírez, J. 2010. Euphorbiaceae. En: Manual de Plantas de Costa ...

, Adenopeltis, Alchornea, Anomostachys, Bocquillonia,

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

, Cerbera, Falconeria, Grimmeodendron,

Gymnanthes ''Gymnanthes'' is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1788. It is found primarily in the warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere (from Florida and Mexico south to Argentina), but with ...

Homalanthus ''Homalanthus'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1824.Jussieu, Adrien Henri Laurent de. 1824. De Euphorbiacearum Generibus Medicisque earumdem viribus tentamen, tabulis aeneis 18 illustratum 50 It is ...

, Maprounea, Microstachys,

Neoshirakia ''Neoshirakia'', known as milktree, is a genus of plants in the Euphorbiaceae, native to east Asia. It is part of a group first described in 1954 with the name ''Shirakia'', but this proved to be an illegitimate name, unacceptable under the Code ...

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 O ...

, Sclerocroton,

Sebastiania ''Sebastiania'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described in 1821. It is native to North and South America from Arizona and the West Indies south to Uruguay.Webster, G. L. & M.J. Huft. 1988. Revised synopsis ...

Shirakiopsis ''Shirakiopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1999. There are six known species, 3 native to tropical Asia and 3 to tropical Africa.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 ''Stillingia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described for modern science as a genus in 1767. The genus is native to Latin America, the southern United States, and various islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Toothleaf ...

, and

Triadica ''Triadica'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1790. It is native to eastern southeastern, and southern Asia. Species included are: # '' Triadica cochinchinensis'' Lour. - China (Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, ...

''.

References

External links

milky mangrove
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3237072 Euphorbiaceae genera