Abrus is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, and the only genus in the tribe Abreae. It contains 13–18 species, but is best known for a single species: jequirity (A. precatorius). The highly toxic seeds of that species are used to make jewellery.[3][4][5]

Abrus
Abrus precatorius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Clade: Meso-Papilionoideae
Clade: Non-protein amino acid-accumulating clade
Clade: Millettioids
Tribe: Abreae
Hutch.
Genus: Abrus
Adans. (1763)[1]
Species

17; see text

Synonyms[2]
  • Hoepfneria Vatke (1879)
  • Hulthemia Blume ex Miq. (1855), nom. inval.
  • Zaga Raf. (1837)

Species range naturally across tropical Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, south and southeast Asia, southern China, New Guinea, and Australia. Some species have been introduced to the tropical Americas.[2]

Species

edit
 
Abrus pulchellus

References

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  1. ^ "genus Abrus". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) online database. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b Abrus Adans. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  3. ^ Hartley, Martin R. (2010). Toxic Plant Proteins. Springer. pp. 134–. ISBN 9783642121760. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  4. ^ Lewis, Robert Alan (1998). Lewisʼ Dictionary of Toxicology. CRC Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9781566702232. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  5. ^ Allen, Oscar Nelson; Alen, Ethel K. (1981). The Leguminosae: A Source Book of Characteristics, Uses and Nodulation. Univ of Wisconsin Press. pp. 4–. ISBN 9780299084004. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  6. ^ Swanepoel, W.; Kolberg, H. (2011). "Abrus kaokoensis (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae-Abreae), a new species from Namibia". South African Journal of Botany. 77 (3): 613–617. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2010.12.005. hdl:2263/58380.