Abrus
Abrus precatorius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Clade: Meso-Papilionoideae
Clade: Non-protein amino acid-accumulating clade
Clade: Millettioids
Tribe: Abreae
Hutch.
Genus: Abrus
Adans. (1763)[1]
Species

17; see text

Synonyms[2]
  • Hoepfneria Vatke (1879)
  • Hulthemia Blume ex Miq. (1855), nom. inval.
  • Zaga Raf. (1837)

Abrus is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, and the only genus in the tribe Abreae. It contains 13–18 species, but is best known for a single species: jequirity (A. precatorius). The highly toxic seeds of that species are used to make jewellery.[3][4][5]

Species range naturally across tropical Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, south and southeast Asia, southern China, New Guinea, and Australia. Some species have been introduced to the tropical Americas.[2]

Species

Abrus pulchellus

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abrus.
  1. ^ "genus Abrus". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) online database. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b Abrus Adans. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  3. ^ Hartley, Martin R. (2010). Toxic Plant Proteins. Springer. pp. 134–. ISBN 9783642121760. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  4. ^ Lewis, Robert Alan (1998). Lewisʼ Dictionary of Toxicology. CRC Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9781566702232. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  5. ^ Allen, Oscar Nelson; Alen, Ethel K. (1981). The Leguminosae: A Source Book of Characteristics, Uses and Nodulation. Univ of Wisconsin Press. pp. 4–. ISBN 9780299084004. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  6. ^ Swanepoel, W.; Kolberg, H. (2011). "Abrus kaokoensis (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae-Abreae), a new species from Namibia". South African Journal of Botany. 77 (3): 613–617. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2010.12.005. hdl:2263/58380.


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