Hippomane is a genus of plants in the Euphorbiaceae described by Linnaeus in 1753.Tropicos, Hippomane L.Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1191-1192 in Latin It is native to the West Indies, Central America, Mexico, Florida, Venezuela, Colombia, and Galápagos.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.González Ramírez, J. 2010. Euphorbiaceae. En: Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica. Vol. 5. B.E. Hammel, M.H. Grayum, C. Herrera & N. Zamora (eds.). Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 119: 290–394.Martínez Gordillo, M., J. J. Ramírez, R. C. Durán, E. J. Arriaga, R. García, A. Cervantes & R. M. Hernández. 2002. Los géneros de la familia Euphorbiaceae en México. Anales del Instituto de Biología de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Botánica 73(2): 155–281.Webster, G. L. & M.J. Huft. 1988. Revised synopsis of Panamanian Euphorbiaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 75(3): 1087–1144.Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution map
Derivation of name The name of the genus references the Greek name hippomanes (applied by Theophrastus to an unidentified plant said to poison horses, 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 Urb. & Ekman. - Barahona in Dominican Rep Hippomane mancinella L. - West Indies, Mexico, Central America, Florida Keys, Venezuela, Colombia, Galápagos Hippomane spinosa L. - Hispaniola
Species formerly included moved to other genera: Sapium
References