Coriaria

Coriaria
Coriaria ruscifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Cucurbitales Family: Coriariaceae Genus: Coriaria L.
Species
About 30 species, including: Coriaria angustissima Coriaria arborea Coriaria japonica Coriaria kingiana Coriaria lurida Coriaria microphylla Coriaria myrtifolia Coriaria napalensis Coriaria plumosa Coriaria pottsiana Coriaria pteridoides Coriaria ruscifolia Coriaria sarmentosa Coriaria sinica Coriaria terminalis Coriaria thymifolia

Coriaria is the sole genus in the family Coriariaceae. It includes about 30 species of subshrubs, shrubs and small trees, with a widespread but disjunct distribution across warm temperate regions of the world, occurring as far apart as the Mediterranean region, southern and eastern Asia, New Zealand (where there are some alpine species), the Pacific Ocean islands, and Central and South America.

The leaves are opposite or in whorls, simple, 2-9 cm long, without stipules. The flowers are borne in racemes 2-30 cm long, each flower small, greenish, with five small petals. The fruit is a small and shiny black (occasionally yellow or red) berry-like swollen corolla, highly poisonous in several species, though those of C. terminalis are edible.

The Mediterranean species C. myrtifolia is known as Redoul, and the several New Zealand species are known by the Māori name of Tutu.

The South American species C. ruscifolia is an evergreen climber known as Deu or Huique, and its fruits are used in Southern Chile to make rat poison.

External links

• Pictures of Coriaria ruscifolia

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