''Hippomane'' is a genus of plants in the

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

described by

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.Tropicos, ''Hippomane'' L.
/ref> It is native to the West Indies, Central America, Mexico, Florida, Venezuela, Colombia, and Galápagos.

Derivation of name

The name of the genus references the Greek name ''hippomanes'' (applied by

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek Philosophy, philosopher and Natural history, naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum, the ...

to an unidentified plant said to poison

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s, sending them mad) - this being a compound of the Greek elements ἵππος (= ) ''horse'' and μανία (= mania) ''insanity / frenzy'' - hence "sending horses insane".Quattrocchi, Umberto (2012). ''CRC World dictionary of medicinal and poisonous plants: common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms and etymology''. CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group. Volume III E-L pps. 484-5.

Species

;Accepted Species # ''

Hippomane horrida ''Hippomane horrida'' is a plant species in the Euphorbiaceae first described for science in 1929. It is endemic to Barahona Province in the Dominican Republic in the West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrou ...

'' Urb. & Ekman. - Barahona in Dominican Rep # ''

Hippomane mancinella The manchineel tree (''Hippomane mancinella'') is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Its native range stretches from tropical southern North America to northern South America. The name ''manchineel'' (sometimes sp ...

'' L. - West Indies, Mexico, Central America,

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

, Venezuela, Colombia, Galápagos # ''

Hippomane spinosa ''Hippomane spinosa'' is a plant species in the family Euphorbiaceae. It was described by Linnaeus in 1753. In Haitian Creole, the plant is known as ('zombie apple'), and in Dominican Spanish, it is known as ('chamomile'). Like the related ma ...

'' L. - Hispaniola ;Species formerly included moved to other genera: ''

Sapium ''Sapium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is widespread across most of Latin America and the West Indies. Many Old World species were formerly included in the genus, but recent authors have redistributed all the O ...

References

{{Authority control Hippomaneae Euphorbiaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of the Neotropical realm