Mimosa pudica
Mimosa pudica is an annual to perennial, more or less prostrate creeping plant.
The plant can grow up to 1 metre tall, but is more likely to be 15 - 45cm tall, the stems usually becoming woody.
The plant is gathered from the wild for local medicinal use. It is cultivated as a green manure and for soil stabilization, and is sometimes also cultivated for its uses in folk medicine.
It is commonly grown as an ornamental, being valued especially for the novelty of its leaves drooping downwards whenever touched.
Mimosa pudica is very widespread in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. This taxon is known to occur within a number of protected areas throughout the species range and seeds have been collected and stored by the Millennium Seed Bank Project as a method of ex situ conservation. It is common and not considered to be threatened or in decline. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2013).
Mimusops obtusifolia
Mimusops obtusifolia is an evergreen shrub perhaps only 150cm tall when growing close to the sea shore but more usually becomes a much-branched, spreading tree growing up to 20 metres tall.
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild as a local source of food and wood.
Moringa oleifera
Moringa oleifera is a small, graceful, deciduous shrub or small tree with a wide, umbrella-shaped, open crown and sparse foliage, often resembling a leguminous species at a distance.
The tree grows to about 8 metres tall with a crooked bole that is often forked from near the base and can be 60cm in diameter.
A true multipurpose tree with a wide range of edible, medicinal and other uses.
There is considerable international trade, mostly from India, in the canned and fresh fruits, oil, seeds and leaf powder, but statistics on the volumes and value are not available.
With its attractive foliage and long racemes of fragrant flowers that can be produced all year round, the horseradish tree is commonly cultivated in the tropics and subtropics as an ornamental and is also grown for its wide range of other uses and its remarkable capacity to stand maltreatment.
Moringa stenopetala
Moringa stenopetala is a deciduous tree with a dense, strongly branched crown; it can grow 6 - 12 metres tall. The bole, which is swollen and bottle-shaped, can be up to 100cm in diameter.
An extremely useful multipurpose tree, providing food, medicines and a host of other commodities. The leaves are a major food crop in Ethiopia, where they can often be eaten every day, especially during the dry season.
The plant is cultivated, mainly in home gardens, in N Kenya and S Ethiopia, mainly for its edible leaves but also for medicine, shade and as a living fence.
The leaves are sold in local markets for use as a vegetable and medicine.
Musa x paradisiaca
Musa x paradisiaca is a large, perennial plant growing around 8 metres tall.
Looking somewhat like a tree, it is a herbaceous plant whose top growth dies after flowering, to be replaced by new growth from the rootstock.
Bananas are a staple food and one of the most prolific of all food crops, producing more than cassava, and several times as much as wheat and potatoes.
They are one of the most commonly cultivated food crops in tropical and some subtropical regions of the world. The plant also has a range of medicinal and other uses.
Myristica fragrans
Nutmeg is a very handsome and strongly aromatic, slow-growing evergreen tree with a dense, conical crown. It usually grows 3 - 15 metres tall, but can reach 20 metres.
The plant is widely cultivated in suitable areas of the tropics as an ornamental and commercially for the two spices it produces, nutmeg and mace. The main areas of production are Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Granada in the West Indies.
Nephelium lappaceum
Rambutan is occasionally only shrub-like, but is usually an evergreen tree with an open, spreading crown; it usually grows from 9 - 15 metres tall in the wild, though exceptionally can reach up to 44 metres, whilst cultivated forms are more commonly 4 -7 metres. The straight bole is usually around 40 - 60cm in diameter, exceptionally to 125cm with buttresses up to 400cm.
This is one of the most popular fruits of the tropics, the plant is widely cultivated in suitable climates around the world, both commercially and in gardens, for its edible fruit and also as an ornamental.
The plant also has a range of local medicinal uses and supplies dyes, oil and a useful timber.
The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Ocimum gratissimum
Ocimum gratissimum is an erect, much-branched, aromatic shrub growing 50 - 300cm tall.
The plant is often cultivated, mainly in the tropics, where it provides a range of culinary and medicinal applications, and is an effective insect repellent. It yields an essential oil, for which it is grown on a commercial scale, the oil being exported to many countries. The leaves are sometimes sold in local markets in Africa.
Pandanus kajui
Pandanus kajui is a sparsely-branched, evergreen tree growing around 9 - 15 metres tall. The bole, which is slightly spiny, can be around 20cm in diameter with prop roots around 100 - 200cm tall.
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of materials. It is an important species locally for stabilizing river banks.
Pandanus kajui is endemic to Kenya, where it is only found in five locations, including one along the Ena River. The species was also previously found along the Tana River, but these subpopulations are now presumed extinct due to development along this river. The species is threatened by over-exploitation and land conversion to agriculture and settlements. The scale of these threats is predicted to increase in the future due to a growing human population. The plant is classified as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2020).
