''Vincetoxicum'' is a genus of

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 exclud ...

s in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...

. Although the species in ''Vincetoxicum'' have sometimes been included in ''

Cynanchum ''Cynanchum'' is a genus of about 300 species including some swallowworts, belonging to the family Apocynaceae. The taxon name comes from Greek ''kynos'' (meaning "dog") and ''anchein'' ("to choke"), hence the common name for several species is d ...

'', chemical and molecular evidence shows that ''Vincetoxicum'' is more closely related to ''

Tylophora ''Tylophora'' is a genus of climbing plant or vine, first described as a genus in 1810. It is native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and Australia. Most of the species are perennial lianas. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek '' ...

''. The generic name means "poison-beater" in

Botanical Latin Botanical Latin is a technical language based on New Latin, used for descriptions of botanical taxa. Until 2012, International Code of Botanical Nomenclature mandated Botanical Latin to be used for the descriptions of most new taxa. It is still the ...

because of the plants' supposed antidotal effects against snakebite. ;Species ;formerly included moved to other genera ( Alexitoxicon, Ampelamus, Antitoxicum,

Asclepias ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...

, Blyttia,

Dictyanthus ''Dictyanthus'' is a genus of plant in family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1844. It is native to Mexico and Central America.Nelson, C. H. 2008. Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de Honduras 1–1576. Secretaria de Recursos Natural ...

, Diplolepis,

Gonolobus ''Gonolobus'' is a genus of plant in family Apocynaceae, first described in 1803. It is native to South America, Central America, Mexico, the West Indies, and the southern United States. ;Species * ''Gonolobus absalonensis'' - Martinique * ''G ...

, Heterostemma, Ischnostemma, Macroscepis,

Matelea ''Matelea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. It contains about 200 species, which are commonly known as milkvines. Some people consider '' Chthamalia'' to be a synonym to or a subgenus of ''Matelea''. Selected species ...

Orthosia ''Orthosia'' is a genus of moths of the family Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because man ...

Pentatropis ''Pentatropis'' is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1834. It is native to Africa and southern Asia. ;Species ;formerly included moved to other genera ''(Cynanchum, Daemia, Rhyncharrhena, Vincetoxicu ...

, Petalostelma, Polystemma, Seutera,

Telminostelma ''Telminostelma'' is a genus of plants in the Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1885. It is native to Brazil and Bolivia in South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the So ...

)

Gallery

Illustration Vincetoxicum hirundinaria0.jpg Vincetoxicum hirundinarium0.jpg Vincetoxicum-hirundinaria-seeds.jpg Vincetoxicum hirundinaria2 resize.jpg

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q158135 Apocynaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot