Petiveria | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Core eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Petiveriaceae |
Genus: |
Petiveria L. |
Species: | P. alliacea |
Binomial name | |
Petiveria alliacea L. |
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Synonyms | |
Mapa graveolens |
Mapa graveolens
P. corrientina
P. foetida
P. graveolens
P. hexandria
P. paraguayensis
Petiveria is a genus of flowering plants in the pigeonberry family, Petiveriaceae. The sole species it contains, Petiveria alliacea, is native to Florida and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States,Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical South America.Introduced populations occur in Benin and Nigeria. It is a deeply rooted herbaceous perennial shrub growing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) in height and has small greenish piccate flowers. The roots and leaves have a strong acrid, garlic-like odor which taints the milk and meat of animals that graze on it.
It is known by a wide number of common names including: guinea henweed, anamu in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Brazil (where it is also known as tipi), apacin in Guatemala, mucura in Peru, and guine in many other parts of Latin America, feuilles ave, herbe aux poules, petevere a odeur ail, and, in Trinidad, as mapurite (pronounced Ma-po-reete) and gully root, and in Jamaica as guinea hen weed and many others.