View source for Cerbera

{{Short description|Genus of plants}}
{{For|the car with the same name|TVR Cerbera}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Cerbera tanghin - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-176.jpg
|image_caption = ''Cerbera manghas''
|display_parents = 3
|taxon = Cerbera
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]], 1753{{R|POWO}}
|type_species = ''Cerbera manghas''
|type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]], 1753
|synonyms = 
*''Elcana'' <small>[[Manuel Blanco Ramos|Blanco]]</small>
*''Odollam'' <small>[[Michel Adanson|Adans.]]</small>
*''Odollamia'' <small>[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Raf.]]</small>
*''Tanghinia'' <small>[[Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars|Thouars]]</small>
*''Thevetia'' <small>Adans.</small>
|synonyms_ref = {{R|POWO}}
}}

'''''Cerbera''''' is a [[genus]] of [[evergreen]] trees or shrubs, native to tropical Asia, Australia, [[Madagascar]], and various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.{{R|FOA|FOC}}

Three trees of this genus are mangroves, ''[[Cerbera floribunda]]'', ''[[Cerbera manghas]]'' and ''[[Cerbera odollam]]''.

==Description==
They are [[perennial plant|perennial]] trees or shrubs growing up {{cvt|30|m}} high, the branches with conspicuous leaf scars. The leaves are spirally arranged and crowded towards the ends of the branches. Each has up to 30 lateral veins that may be straight or upcurved, at 50 to 90 degrees to the midrib. All parts produce a white sticky latex.{{R|FOA|FOC}}{{R|FORSTER}}{{rp|570}}{{R|LEEUWENBERG}}{{rp|7}}

The [[inflorescence]]s are terminal with long [[Peduncle (botany)|peduncles]], flowers are carried on short [[Pedicel (botany)|pedicels]]. Sepals are mostly free and usually pale green, the corolla is white, with a red, pink, yellow or white centre. Flowers are [[Merosity|5–merous]] and actinomorphic, i.e. they are symmetric and can be divided in equal halves along any diameter.{{R|FOA|FOC}}{{R|FORSTER}}{{rp|570}}{{R|LEEUWENBERG}}{{rp|7}}

The fruit are ellipsoid [[drupe]]s containing one or two seeds, and may be green, red, purple or blue.{{R|FOA|FOC}}{{R|FORSTER}}{{rp|570}}{{R|LEEUWENBERG}}{{rp|8}}

==Taxonomy==
''Cerbera'' was first described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1753 in his work ''[[Species Plantarum]]'', in which he described three species — ''C. manghas'', ''C. thevetia'' and ''C. ahouai''. Of these, only ''C. manghas'' is still included in ''Cerbera'' (the other two having been moved to other genera) and is considered to be the [[Type (biology)#Lectotype|lectotype]].{{R|FORSTER}}{{rp|569}}

The genus is most closely related to ''[[Cerberiopsis]]'' {{au|[[Eugène Vieillard|Vieil.]]}}, ''[[Thevetia]]'' {{au|L.}} and ''[[Cascabela]]'' {{au|[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Raf.]]}}.{{R|FORSTER}}{{rp|569}}

===Etymology===
The genus is named after [[Cerberus]], a three-headed dog in Greek mythology, because all the species are poisonous — they contain [[cerberin]], a cardiac [[glycoside]], a substance that blocks electric impulses in the body (including the beating of the heart). Therefore, it is advised to avoid using wood from Cerbera species due to their toxicity, and as their smoke may cause lethal poisoning.

==Species==
The following is a list of all six species in this genus that are accepted by [[Plants of the World Online]] 
{{As of|2023|09|6|lc=y}}
{{R|POWO}}
* ''[[Cerbera dumicola]]'' {{au|[[Paul Irwin Forster|P.I.Forst.]]}} - Queensland
* ''[[Cerbera floribunda]]'' {{au|[[Karl Moritz Schumann|K.Schum.]]}} - Sulawesi, Maluku, Caroline Islands, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Queensland
* ''[[Cerbera inflata]]'' {{au|[[Stanley Thatcher Blake|S.T.Blake]]}} - Queensland
* ''[[Cerbera laeta]]'' {{au|[[Anthonius Josephus Maria Leeuwenberg|Leeuwenb.]]}} - New Guinea
* ''[[Cerbera manghas]]'' {{au|[[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]}} - Tanzania, Madagascar, the Indian subcontinent, mainland Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, northern Australia and numerous Pacific islands
* ''[[Cerbera odollam]]'' {{au|[[Joseph Gaertner|Gaertn.]]}} - Indian subcontinent, mainland Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia and numerous Pacific islands

===Formerly included here===
* ''Cerbera obovata'' {{au|[[Johann Jacob Roemer|Roem.]] & [[Josef August Schultes|Schult.]]}}, now ''[[Craspidospermum|Craspidospermum verticillatum]]'' {{au|[[Wenceslaus Bojer|Bojer]] ex [[Joseph Decaisne|Decne.]]}}{{R|POWO2}}
*''Cerbera oppositifolia'' {{au|[[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck|Lam.]]}}, now ''[[Ochrosia oppositifolia]]'' <small>(Lam.) K.Schum.</small>{{R|POWO3}}
*''Cerbera thevetia'' {{au|L.}}, now ''[[Cascabela thevetia]]'' {{au|(L.) [[Hans Lippold|Lippold]]}}{{R|POWO4}}
*''Cerbera ahouai'' {{au|L.}}, now ''[[Thevetia ahouai]]'' {{au|(L.) [[Martin Vahl|Vahl]]}}{{R|POWO5}}

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px">
File:Cerbera-floribunda-SF23249-04.jpg|''C. floribunda'' flower
File:Cerbera-inflata-SF23236-12.jpg|''C. inflata'' flower
File:Cerbera manghas flower.jpg|''C. manghas'' flowers
File:Cerbera-odollam-SF23249-06.jpg|''C. odollam'' flower
</gallery>

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60436653-2 |title=''Cerbera'' L. |website=[[Plants of the World Online]] |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |access-date=6 September 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="POWO2">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77911-1 |title=''Cerbera obovata'' Roem. & Schult. |website=[[Plants of the World Online]] |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |access-date=6 September 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="POWO3">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77914-1 |title=''Cerbera oppositifolia'' Lam. |website=[[Plants of the World Online]] |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |access-date=6 September 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="POWO4">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:52627-2 |title=''Cerbera thevetia'' L. |website=[[Plants of the World Online]] |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |access-date=7 September 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="POWO5">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77883-1 |title=''Cerbera ahouai'' L. |website=[[Plants of the World Online]] |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |access-date=7 September 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="FORSTER">{{cite journal |author=Forster, P. I. |year=1992 |title=A taxonomic revision of ''Cerbera'' L. (Apocynaceae) in Australia and Papuasia |journal=Austrobaileya |volume=3 |issue=4 |page=570 |jstor=41738802}}</ref>

<ref name="LEEUWENBERG">{{cite journal |author=Leeuwenberg, A. J. M. |year=1999 |title=Series of revisions of Apocynaceae XLVII. The genus ''Cerbera'' L. |journal=Agricultural University Wageningen Papers |volume=98 |issue=3 |url=https://edepot.wur.nl/282967}}</ref>

<ref name="FOA">{{cite web |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Cerbera |title=''Cerbera'' |last1=Forster |first1=P.I. |year=2022 |website=[[Flora of Australia]] |publisher=[[Australian Biological Resources Study]], Department of Climate Change, the Environment and Water: Canberra |access-date=7 September 2023}}</ref>

<ref name="FOC">{{cite web |title=''Cerbera'' |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=106213 |website=Flora of China (eFloras) |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. |access-date=7 September 2023}}</ref>
}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1743845}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cerbera| ]]
[[Category:Apocynaceae genera]]