BRAZIL NUT
Bertholettia excelsa which is also called Amazonian nut, Brazil nut in English, castanheiro do para in Brazil is a large tree of the Amazonian primary forest.It is present in Brazil…
TAMANU TEMANU
Tropical-equatorial plants, CLUSIASEAE are essentially trees or shrubs, sometimes epiphytes, "strangling" their support and developing aerial roots (genus Clusia). Most often large trees in the rainforest, swampy coasts or along…
SPIRULINA
SPIRULINA are microorganisms classified among bacteria. They are part of CYANOPHYCEAE or BLUE ALGAE but according to botanists they are not real algae. Their cellular structure and composition, their mode…
SHEA BUTTER TREE
The shea butter tree or simply shea tree, VITELLARIA PARADOXA = BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SAPOTACEAE), is a tree of the African savannah (between 1000 and 1500 mm of annual rainfall) present…
TURMERIC CURCUMA
ZINGIBERACEAE are used on all continents, and mainly in tropico-equatorial regions, for their odoriferous, culinary (spices) and medicinal properties, which are shared to varying degrees by all species. The best…
SOURSOP SUGAR APPLE
Soursop, ANNONA MURICATA, and sugar apple ,ANNONA SQUAMOSA,are two representatives of an important botanical family, ANNONACEAE, not only by the number of species but also by their richness in compounds…
COCONUT
COCONUT TREE, COCOS NUCIFERA, ARECACEAE,is the emblematic tree of the tropical shores, it is probably native to Southeast Asia but is now found in all tropico-equatorial countries. It has been…
CARAPA ANDIROBA TOULOUCOUNA
MELIACEAE are trees or shrubs from tropico-equatorial regions. Many have a desirable wood and have been overexploited such as African mahogany (Kaya), the Caribbean mahogany (Swietenia), or mahogany "female" or…
GERMAN CAMOMILE
The German chamomile, MATRICARIA RECUTITA = MATRICARIA CHAMOMILLA, ASTERACEAE, is part of a group of plants that are sometimes difficult to differentiate from each other. Here is frequent confusion between…
HEATHERS
Heathers, ERICACEAE, are usually small woody shrubs or sub-shrubs of temperate regions that develop on poor soils, siliceous or degraded, most often very acidic (heaths, peat bogs), sometimes in undergrowth…