Elmer Drew Merrill

The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuries. The introduction of the pineapple plant to Europe in the 17th century made it a significant cultural icon of luxury. Since the 1820s, pineapple has been commercially grown in greenhouses and many tropical plantations. The fruit, particularly its juice, has diverse uses in cuisines and desserts. Pineapples grow as a small shrub; the individual flowers of

The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (Glycine max) is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of food, useful both for its protein and oil content. Soybean oil is widely used in cooking, as well as in industry. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include edamame, as well as soy milk, from which tofu and tofu skin are made. Fermented soy foods include soy sauce, fermented bean paste, nattō, and tempeh. Fat-free (defatted) soybean meal is a

Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or fragrance in consumer products, such as toothpaste, soaps, or cosmetics. Cloves are available throughout the year owing to different harvest seasons across various countries.

The pomelo ( POM-il-oh, PUM-; or pummelo, Citrus maxima), also known as a shaddock, is the largest citrus fruit. It is an ancestor of several cultivated citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefruit, the pomelo is commonly eaten and used for festive occasions throughout Southeast and East Asia. As with the grapefruit, phytochemicals in the pomelo have the potential for drug interactions.

Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The name allspice was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who valued it as a spice that combined the flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Contrary to common misconception, it is not a mixture of spices. Several unrelated fragrant shrubs are called "Carolina allspice" (Calycanthus floridus), "Japanese allspice" (Chimonanthus praecox),

Syzygium malaccense is a species of flowering tree native to tropical Asia and Australia. It was cultivated from prehistoric times by the Austronesian peoples and introduced deliberately to remote Oceania as canoe plants. In modern times, it has been introduced throughout the tropics, including the Caribbean. The ripe fruit is edible but with little flavor.

Sandoricum koetjape, the santol, sentul, setun or cotton fruit, is a tropical fruit native to maritime Southeast Asia.

Arenga pinnata (syn. Arenga saccharifera) is an economically important feather palm native to tropical Asia, from eastern India east to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the east. Common names include sugar palm, areng palm (also aren palm or arengga palm), black sugar palm, and kaong palm, among other names.

Syzygium samarangense is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, native to an area that includes the Greater Sunda Islands, Malay Peninsula, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but introduced in prehistoric times to a wider area and now widely cultivated in the tropics. Common names in English include wax apple, Java apple, Semarang rose-apple, and wax jambu.

Samanea saman is a semi-deciduous species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, now in the Mimosoid clade and is native to Central and South America. It is often placed in the genus Samanea, which by yet other authors is subsumed in Albizia entirely. Its range extends from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil, but it has been widely introduced to South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii. It is a well-known tree, rivaled perhaps only by lebbeck and pink siris among its genus. It is well represented in many languages and has numerous local names in its

Artocarpus integer, commonly known as chempedak or cempedak, is a species of tree in the family Moraceae, in the same genus as breadfruit and jackfruit. It is native to Southeast Asia. Cempedak is an important crop in Malaysia and is also popularly cultivated in southern Thailand and parts of Indonesia, and has the potential to be utilized in other areas. It is currently limited in range to Southeast Asia, with some trees in Australia and Hawaii.

Ipomoea indica is a species of flowering plant in the family Convolvulaceae, known by several common names, including blue morning glory, oceanblue morning glory, koali awa, and blue dawn flower. It bears heart-shaped or three-lobed leaves and purple or blue funnel-shaped flowers 6–8 cm (2–3 in) in diameter, from spring to autumn. The flowers produced by the plant are hermaphroditic. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The plant is grown as an ornamental for its attractive flowers, but is considered invasive in many regions of the world, being

Flacourtia indica (known commonly as ramontchi, governor's plum and Indian plum), is a species of flowering plant native to much of Africa and tropical and temperate parts of Asia. It has various uses, including folk medicine, fuel, animal food and human food.

Dipentodontaceae is a family of flowering plants containing two genera. Dipentodon Dunn - southern China, Assam, Myanmar Perrottetia Kunth - southern China, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, Queensland, Hawaii, Latin America

Sesbania sesban, the Egyptian riverhemp, is a species of plant in the legume family, a fast growing species, it has four varieties that are currently recognized. Synonyms include: Aeschynomene aegyptiaca (Pers.) Steud. Aeschynomene sesban L. Emerus sesban (L.) Kuntze Sesbania aegyptiaca Poir.

Acacia confusa is a perennial tree native to South-East Asia. Some common names for it are ayangile, small Philippine acacia, Formosa acacia (Taiwan acacia), Philippine Wattle, and Formosan koa. It grows to a height of 15 m. The tree has become very common in many tropical Pacific areas, including Hawaii, where the species is considered invasive.

Lannea coromandelica, also known as the Indian ash tree, is a species of tree in the family Anacardiaceae that grows in South and Southeast Asia, ranging from Sri Lanka to Southern China. Known also as the Mohin tree (Hindi: मोहिन) it is used in plywoods for its excellent termite resistance properties. It commonly grows in exposed dry woodland environments, where the tree is up to 10 meters tall and crooked. In more humid environments it is a larger spreading tree that can become 20 meters tall. In Sri Lanka Lannea coromandelica often grows on rock outcrops or inselbergs. In Nepal, commonly

Telosma cordata (Chinese: 夜來香; lit. 'night-blooming fragrance') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae (tribe Marsdenieae), native to China and Indo-China. It is cultivated elsewhere and may occur wild as an introduced species. Common names include Chinese violet, cowslip creeper, Pakalana vine, Tonkin jasmine and Tonkinese creeper. The plant bears clusters of golden yellow blooms along the vining stems during summer months. Individual blooms emerge successively over a period of weeks emitting a rich, heavy fragrance during the day and night.

Pueraria montana, more commonly known as kudzu, is a species of plant in the botanical family Fabaceae. At least three sub-species (alternatively called varieties) are known. It is closely related to other species in the genus Pueraria (P. edulis and P. phaseoloides) and the common name is used for all of these species and hybrids between them. The morphological differences between them are subtle, they can breed with each other, and it appears that introduced kudzu populations in the United States have ancestry from more than one of the species.

Leea indica is a large shrub in the family Vitaceae which may grow up to 5 m (16 ft) tall. It is common in undergrowth of secondary and disturbed evergreen forests in Indomalaya, Indochina, and throughout in the Western Ghats of India. Plants growing in Malesia, New Guinea, Australia and southwestern Pacific islands were previously identified as this species but are now considered to be the separate species Leea nova-guineensis.

Neolitsea is a genus of about 85 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the laurel family Lauraceae. They range from Indo-Malaysia to East Asia to Australia. The leaves are alternate, clustered, or verticillate, rarely subopposite. Species are dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The Australian species, of which there are three, are commonly known as bolly gums and are fairly common in the rainforests of the east. Many species of the genus Neolitsea have been analysed for essential oils and their biological activity.

Vigna marina is a prostrate, creeping vine and a perennial plant. Also known as the beach pea, nanea, and notched cowpea, it is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae.

Samanea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes four species of trees native to the tropical Americas, ranging from Belize to Paraguay, and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. Habitats include tropical moist evergreen and seasonally-dry deciduous forest, woodland, and wooded grassland. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The type species is Samanea saman from South America.

Parkia timoriana is a species of flowering plant in the Mimosa subfamily (Mimosoideae) of the legume family. English common names include tree bean. It is native to Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Assam and Manipur in India. It is widely cultivated for food and wood, and as an ornamental. The tree is vulnerable to the pest insect Cadra cautella, a moth. The larva bores into the seed to pupate, feeding on the seed interior and filling it with webbing. It also consumes the flower heads.

Entada phaseoloides, commonly known in English as the matchbox bean or St. Thomas' bean, is a large twining vine or liana in the pea and bean family Fabaceae, native to a broad area of Asia-Pacific, from China to northern Australia and the southwestern Pacific. It is also known as gugo in the Philippines, where the bark sap is used as a traditional shampoo.

Dracontomelon dao, the Argus pheasant-tree, Pacific walnut, Papuan walnut, New Guinea walnut, paldao or simply dao, is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical Asia.

Limnophila aromatica, the rice paddy herb, is a tropical flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia, where it flourishes in hot temperatures and grows most often in watery environments, particularly in flooded rice fields. It is called ngò ôm or ngò om or ngổ in Vietnam and used as an herb and also cultivated for use as an aquarium plant. The plant was introduced to North America in the 1970s due to Vietnamese immigration following the Vietnam War. It is called "ma om" (ម្អម) in Khmer. It is used in traditional Cambodian soup dishes and Southern Vietnamese

Carallia brachiata is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhizophoraceae. This large tree grows to a height of 25 metres (82 ft) and is found from Australia, through South East Asia to the Western Ghats. It is the host plant of the moth Dysphania percota in India and Dysphania numana in Australia.

Albizia chinensis is a species of legume in the genus Albizia, native to south and Southeast asia, from India to China and Indonesia. The genus is named after the Italian nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, belonging to the famous Florentine family Albizzi, who introduced it to Europe in the mid-18th century, and it is sometimes incorrectly spelled Albizzia.

Ochna integerrima, popularly called yellow Mai flower (Vietnamese: mai vàng, hoa mai, hoàng mai in southern Vietnam, although in the north, mai usually refers to Prunus mume), is a plant species in the genus Ochna and family Ochnaceae. In the wild, it is a small tree or shrub species (2-7 m tall). The timing of the yellow flowers of this plant make it very popular in southern Vietnam, where (often bonsai-style) plants are purchased during Tết. In Vietnam, the variety of O. integerrima whose flowers have five petals is called mai vàng (yellow mai), whereas mai núi (mountain mai) flowers have