''Cerbera'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

trees or shrubs, native to tropical Asia, Australia,

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, and various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Three trees of this genus are mangroves, '' Cerbera floribunda'', ''

Cerbera manghas ''Cerbera manghas'' (formerly ''Cerbera tanghin''), commonly known as the sea mango, tangena or bintaro is a small evergreen coastal tree growing up to tall. It is native to coastal areas in Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific islands. It ...

'' and ''

Cerbera odollam ''Cerbera odollam'' is a tree species in the family Apocynaceae commonly known as the suicide tree or pong-pong. It bears a fruit known as othalanga whose seeds yield a potent poison called cerberin. It has historically been used in Trial by orde ...

''.

Description

They are

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

trees or shrubs growing up high, the branches with conspicuous leaf scars. The leaves are spirally arranged and crowded towards the ends of the branches. Each has up to 30 lateral veins that may be straight or upcurved, at 50 to 90 degrees to the midrib. All parts produce a white sticky latex. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s are terminal with long peduncles, flowers are carried on short

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

. Sepals are mostly free and usually pale green, the corolla is white, with a red, pink, yellow or white centre. Flowers are 5–merous and actinomorphic, i.e. they are symmetric and can be divided in equal halves along any diameter. The fruit are ellipsoid

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

s containing one or two seeds, and may be green, red, purple or blue.

Taxonomy

''Cerbera'' was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753 in his work ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

'', in which he described three species — ''C. manghas'', ''C. thevetia'' and ''C. ahouai''. Of these, only ''C. manghas'' is still included in ''Cerbera'' (the other two having been moved to other genera) and is considered to be the

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

. The genus is most closely related to '' Cerberiopsis'' , ''

Thevetia ''Thevetia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described for modern science as a genus in 1758. It is native to Mexico, Central America, South America, and Cuba. The taxonomy of the genus is controversial, with some ...

'' and ''

Cascabela ''Cascabela'' is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It is native to Mexico, Central America, and South America.Alvarado-Cárdenas, L.O. & Ocheterena, H. (2007). A phylogenetic analysis of the Cascabelia-Thevetia spec ...

'' .

Etymology

The genus is named after

Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus ( or ; ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a polycephaly, multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Greek underworld, underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring o ...

, a three-headed dog in Greek mythology, because all the species are poisonous — they contain

cerberin Cerberin is a type of cardiac glycoside, found in the seeds of the dicotyledonous angiosperm genus ''Cerbera''; including the suicide tree (''Cerbera odollam'') and the sea mango (''Cerbera manghas''). As a cardiac glycoside, cerberin disrupts the ...

, a cardiac

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

, a substance that blocks electric impulses in the body (including the beating of the heart). Therefore, it is advised to avoid using wood from Cerbera species due to their toxicity, and as their smoke may cause lethal poisoning.

Species

The following is a list of all six species in this genus that are accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

* ''

Cerbera dumicola ''Cerbera'' is a genus of evergreen trees or shrubs, native to tropical Asia, Australia, Madagascar, and various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Three trees of this genus are mangroves, '' Cerbera floribunda'', ''Cerbera manghas'' and ...

'' - Queensland * '' Cerbera floribunda'' - Sulawesi, Maluku, Caroline Islands, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Queensland * ''

Cerbera inflata ''Cerbera inflata'', commonly known as the cassowary plum, grey milkwood, Joojooga, or rubber tree, is a plant in the family Apocynaceae endemic to northeast Queensland, specifically the Atherton Tablelands and adjacent areas. Description The ...

'' - Queensland * '' Cerbera laeta'' - New Guinea * ''

'' - Tanzania, Madagascar, the Indian subcontinent, mainland Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, northern Australia and numerous Pacific islands * ''

'' - Indian subcontinent, mainland Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia and numerous Pacific islands

Formerly included here

* ''Cerbera obovata'' , now '' Craspidospermum verticillatum'' *''Cerbera oppositifolia'' , now ''

Ochrosia oppositifolia ''Ochrosia oppositifolia'' grows as a small to medium-sized tree up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . Its flowers feature a creamy to white corolla. Its habitat is coastal forest, bush or open areas to altitude, rarely inland. Local me ...

'' (Lam.) K.Schum. *''Cerbera thevetia'' , now ''

Cascabela thevetia ''Cascabela thevetia'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Thevetia peruviana'') is a poisonous plant native throughout Mexico and in Central America, and cultivated widely as an ornamental. It is a relative of ''Nerium oleander'', giving it a common ...

'' *''Cerbera ahouai'' , now ''

Thevetia ahouai ''Thevetia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described for modern science as a genus in 1758. It is native to Mexico, Central America, South America, and Cuba. The taxonomy of the genus is controversial, with some ...

Gallery

File:Cerbera-floribunda-SF23249-04.jpg, ''C. floribunda'' flower File:Cerbera-inflata-SF23236-12.jpg, ''C. inflata'' flower File:Cerbera manghas flower.jpg, ''C. manghas'' flowers File:Cerbera-odollam-SF23249-06.jpg, ''C. odollam'' flower

References

{{Authority control Apocynaceae genera