Flora of South America

The tomato (US: , UK: ; Solanum lycopersicum) is a plant whose fruit is an edible berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originated from western South America, and may have been domesticated there, in Mexico, or in Central America. The Spanish introduced tomatoes to Eurasia in the Columbian exchange in the 16th century. Tomato plants are vines, largely annual, and vulnerable to frost, though sometimes living longer in greenhouses. The flowers are able to self-fertilize. Modern varieties have been

The peanut (Arachis hypogaea), also known as the groundnut, goober (US, via Kikongo), goober pea, pindar (US, via Kikongo) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds, contained in underground pods. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large commercial producers, both as a grain legume and as an oil crop. Underground fruiting (geocarpy) is atypical among legumes, which led botanist Carl Linnaeus to name the species hypogaea, from Greek 'under the earth'. The peanut belongs to the flowering plant family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), commonly

Tropaeolum majus, the garden nasturtium, nasturtium, Indian cress or monk's cress, is a species of flowering plant in the family Tropaeolaceae. An annual or a short-lived perennial with disc-shaped leaves and brilliant yellow, orange or red flowers, it is of cultivated, probably hybrid origin. It is not closely related to the genus Nasturtium (which includes watercress).

Phyllanthus acidus, known as the Otaheite gooseberry, Malay gooseberry, Tahitian gooseberry, country gooseberry, star gooseberry, starberry, arbari, West India gooseberry, Grosella, or simply gooseberry tree, is one of the trees with small edible yellow berries in the family Phyllanthaceae. Despite its name, the plant does not resemble the gooseberry, except for the acidity of its fruits.

Chrysophyllum cainito is a tropical tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is native to the Isthmus of Panama, where it was domesticated. It has spread to the Greater Antilles and the West Indies and is now grown throughout the tropics, including Southeast Asia. It grows rapidly and reaches 20 meters in height.

Schlumbergera is a small genus of cacti with six to nine species native to the coastal mountains of southeastern Brazil. These plants grow on trees or rocks in habitats that are generally shady with high humidity, and can be quite different in appearance from their desert-dwelling cousins. Most species of Schlumbergera have stems which resemble leaf-like pads joined one to the other and flowers which appear from areoles at the joints and tips of the stems. Two species have cylindrical stems more similar to other cacti. Common names for these cacti generally refer to their flowering season. In

Jubaea is a genus of palms with one species, Jubaea chilensis, commonly known in English as the Chilean wine palm or Chile cocopalm, and palma chilena in Spanish. It is native to southwestern South America and is endemic to a small area of central Chile between 32°S and 35°S in southern Coquimbo, Valparaíso, Santiago, O'Higgins, and northern Maule regions. The extinct palm tree of Easter Island belonged to this genus as well. In 1991, the Easter Island palm was placed in its own genus, Paschalococos. However, this has not been widely accepted.

Quillaja saponaria, the soap bark tree or soapbark, is an evergreen tree in the family Quillajaceae, native to warm temperate central Chile. In Chile it occurs from 32 to 40° South Latitude approximately and at up to 2000 m (6500 ft) above sea level. It can grow to 15–20 m (50–65 ft) in height. The tree has thick, dark bark; smooth, leathery, shiny, oval evergreen leaves 3–5 cm long; white star-shaped flowers 15 mm in diameter borne in dense corymbs; and a dry fruit with five follicles each containing 10–20 seeds. The tree has several practical and commercial uses.

Gomortega keule (syn. G. nitida; Spanish names keule, queule, and hualhual) is a species of tree endemic to Chile. It is the sole species of the genus Gomortega and, according to the APG IV system of 2016 (unchanged from the APG systems of 2009, 2003 and 1998), of the monotypic family Gomortegaceae, assigned to the order Laurales in the clade magnoliids.

Scalesia is a genus in the family Asteraceae endemic to the Galapagos Islands. It contains fifteen species that grow as shrubs or trees. This is unusual, because tree species are uncommon in Asteraceae. The genus Scalesia resulted from a blunder by Arnott who named it in honour of "W. Scales Esq., Cawdor Castle, Elginshire" but discovered after publication that the name should have read 'Stables', after Scottish botanist, William Alexander Stables (1810–1890). All of the species have soft, pithy wood. Scalesia species have been called "the Darwin's finches of the plant world" because they

Juniperus bermudiana is a species of juniper endemic to Bermuda. This species is most commonly known as Bermuda cedar, but is also referred to as Bermuda juniper (Bermudians refer to it simply as cedar). Historically, this tree formed woodland that covered much of Bermuda. Settlers cleared part of the forest and the tree was used for many purposes including building construction and was especially prized for shipbuilding. Scale insects introduced during the Second World War construction of United States airbases in Bermuda devastated the forests, killing over 99% of the species (an event

Uebelmannia is genus of cacti, native to southeast Brazil. In a 2023 classification of the tribe Cereeae, it was placed as the only genus in the subtribe Uebelmanniinae, having formerly been placed in the subtribe Rebutiinae.

Dracula simia, known also as the monkey-like Dracula, is an epiphytic orchid originally described as part of the genus Masdevallia, but later reclassified as part of genus Dracula. The arrangement of column, petals and lip resembles a monkey's face. The plant blooms at any season with several flowers on the inflorescence that open successively. Flowers are fragrant with the scent of a ripe orange. The monkey orchid is native to the cloud forests of Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. Although it was first documented in Ecuador, its natural habitat extends across these three countries. Currently,

Cinchona officinalis is a South American tree in the family Rubiaceae. It is native to wet montane forests in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, between 1600–2700 meters above sea level. It is the national tree of Peru.

Calliandra haematocephala, the red powder puff, is a species of flowering plants of the genus Calliandra in the family Fabaceae native to Bolivia. In its native habitat it typically grows to about 3–4.5 m (10–15 ft) tall and is widely cultivated as an ornamental flowering shrub in warm climates, where it can grow outdoors year-round.

Lactoris fernandeziana is a flowering shrub endemic to the cloud forest of Masatierra – Robinson Crusoe Island, of the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago of Chile. It is the only extant species in the genus Lactoris.

Mila caespitosa is a species of cacti (family Cactaceae) and the only species of the genus Mila. Its generic name is an anagram of Lima, Peru, the city near which the plant is found. The genus was first thought to comprise 13 species, until recent studies suggest they form one very variable species.

Matucana is a genus of cacti (family Cactaceae), containing approximately 20 species of mostly globular plants. The genus is known only from Peru, mostly along the Marañón River. Some species are endangered due to collection for the specialist market.

Anthurium scherzerianum, the flamingo flower or pigtail plant, is a species of Anthurium (family Araceae) native to Costa Rica. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as an ornamental houseplant, kept at 15 °C (60 °F) or higher. It is naturally an epiphyte, growing on trees in the rainforest. Anthurium scherzerianum typically reaches 30–45 cm (12–18 in) tall. Its most striking feature is its orange-red curly spadix. It produces shiny, lance-shaped leaves about 20 cm (8 in) long. Common pests include mealybugs, aphids, and soft scale. When growing indoors, it

Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri, synonyms Schlumbergera gaertneri and Hatiora gaertneri, is a species of epiphytic cactus which belongs to the tribe Rhipsalideae within the subfamily Cactoideae of the Cactaceae. Together with the hybrid with R. rosea, Rhipsalidopsis × graeseri, it is known, in English speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, as Easter cactus or Whitsun cactus and is a widely cultivated ornamental plant. It has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Parmentiera cereifera, the candle tree, is a species of tree in the family Bignoniaceae. It is endemic to Panama, but it is also a commonly cultivated specimen in botanical gardens. This tree grows up to 6 m tall. The leaves are arranged oppositely, each made up of three leaflets. They are borne on winged petioles up to 5 cm long. The flower is solitary or borne in a cluster of up to four. The five-lobed corolla is greenish white. The fruit is a taper-shaped berry up to 60 cm long. The record is 120 cm long while only 2.5 cm wide. It is green, ripening yellow, and waxy in texture. The fleshy

Mandevilla sanderi, the Brazilian jasmine, is a vine belonging to the genus Mandevilla. Grown as an ornamental plant, the species is endemic to the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It is a rapidly growing, creeping, perennial plant, pruning shoots about 60 cm per year. Despite its common name, the species is not a "true jasmine" and not of the genus Jasminum.

The lava cactus is a species of cactus, Brachycereus nesioticus, the sole species of the genus Brachycereus. The plant is a colonizer of lava fields – hence its common name – where it forms spiny clumps up to 60 cm (24 in) tall. Its solitary white or yellowish white flowers open in the daytime. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands.

Sabal bermudana, commonly known as the Bermuda palmetto or bibby-tree, is one of 15 species of palm trees in the genus Sabal and is endemic to Bermuda although reportedly naturalized in the Leeward Islands. It was greatly affected by the introduction of non-native plants such as the Chinese fan palm, which created competition for space that it usually lost.

Thyrsopteris is a genus of tree fern. It contains a single living species, Thyrsopteris elegans, endemic to the Juan Fernandez Archipelago off the coast of Chile. The oldest records of the genus are the species Thyrsopteris cretacea and Thyrsopteris cyathindusia which were described from the Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to the Cenomanian of the Cretaceous period, around 99 million years ago. Other fossil species include Thyrsopteris antiqua from the Upper Cretaceous of Chile and Thyrsopteris shenii from the Paleogene of King George Island, Antarctica A thyrsopterid rachis is also known

Puya chilensis is a species of terrestrial bromeliad. It is endemic to central Chile.

Puya alpestris is a species of bromeliad endemic to the Chilean Andes. It is native to dry hills, rock outcrops in central and southern Chile at elevations of 0 to 2200 meters. It is one of the most southerly occurring species within the family. It is one of the few Puya species that are grown in some parks and gardens as an ornamental plant. It is more commonly known as the Sapphire Tower.

Parajubaea torallyi, commonly known as the palma de Pasobaya or Bolivian mountain coconut, is a species of evergreen flowering plant of genus Parajubaea, in the family Arecaceae, closely related to the coconut palm in the tribe Cocoseae. It is endemic to Bolivia, where it grows in dry forests on steep rocky slopes at 2,400–3,400 metres (7,900–11,200 ft) in altitude. In its native habitat, due to high altitude, low night temperatures often drop to a range of -3C to -9C during local winter time (July, August), with considerable temperature spans between day and night and practically no

Haptanthus is a monotypic genus containing the sole species Haptanthus hazlettii, a shrub or small tree known only from the locality of Matarras in the Arizona Municipality in Honduras. Its flowers are unique among the flowering plants. A single "female" (carpellate) flower has two branches on either side which carry "male" (staminate) flowers. The flowers are very simple, lacking obvious sepals or petals. The family placement of the genus has been uncertain but based on molecular phylogenetic research, it is included in the family Buxaceae as of September 2014. Very few individuals have ever

Gymnocalycium baldianum, the spider-cactus or dwarf chin cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae, native to the Catamarca Province in Argentina.