Malpighia

Malpighia
Malpighia emarginata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Malpighiaceae
Genus:	Malpighia L.
Type species
Malpighia glabra L.
Species
About 45; see text

Malpighia is a genus of flowering plants in the nance family, Malpighiaceae. It contains about 45 species of shrubs or small trees, all of which are native to the American tropics. The generic name honours Marcello Malpighi, a 17th-century Italian physician and botanist. The species grow to 1–6 m (3.3–19.7 ft) tall, with a dense, often thorny crown. The leaves are evergreen, simple, 0.5–15 cm (0.20–5.91 in) long, with an entire or serrated margin. The flowers are solitary or in umbels of two to several together, each flower 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) diameter, with five white, pink, red, or purple petals. The fruit is a red, orange or purple drupe, containing 2-3 hard seeds. M. emarginata is cultivated for its sweet and juicy fruits, which are very rich in vitamin C.

Selected species

• Malpighia aquifolia L.
• Malpighia cauliflora Proctor & Vivaldi (Jamaica)
• Malpighia coccigera L. – Singapore holly (Caribbean)
• Malpighia cubensis Kunth – palo bronco de hoja pequeña (Cuba)
• Malpighia emarginata DC. – Barbados cherry, acerola (southern Texas and Florida, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America.)
• Malpighia fucata Ker Gawl. (Puerto Rico)
• Malpighia glabra
• Malpighia harrisii Small (Jamaica)
• Malpighia mexicana A.Juss.
• Malpighia obtusifolia Proctor (Jamaica)
• Malpighia polytricha A.Juss.
• Malpighia proctorii Vivaldi (Jamaica)
• Malpighia setosa Spreng. – bristly stingingbush (The Bahamas, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico)
• Malpighia suberosa Small
• Malpighia urens L. – cowhage (Caribbean)

Formerly placed here

• Bunchosia argentea (Jacq.) DC. (as M. argentea Jacq.)
• Bunchosia armeniaca (Cav.) DC. (as M. armeniaca Cav.
• Bunchosia glandulifera (Jacq.) Kunth (as M. glandulifera Jacq.)
• Bunchosia glandulosa (Cav.) DC. (as M. glandulosa Cav.)
• Byrsonima altissima (Aubl.) DC. (as M. altissima Aubl.)
• Byrsonima crassifolia (L.) Kunth (as M. crassifolia L.)
• Byrsonima densa (Poir.) DC. (as M. densa Poir.)
• Byrsonima spicata (Cav.) DC. (as M. spicata Cav.)
• Heteropterys multiflora (DC.) Hochr. (as M. reticulata Poir.)