View source for Morinda

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Moringa (genus){{!}}''Moringa''}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = P Morc D5915.JPG
|image_caption = ''[[Morinda citrifolia]]''
|image2 = Gentianales - Morinda yucatanensis - 3.jpg
|image2_caption = ''[[Morinda yucatanensis]]''
|display_parents = 2
|taxon = Morinda
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]<ref name="GRIN">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?7805 |title=Genus: ''Morinda'' L. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=1996-09-17 |access-date=2010-11-28}}</ref>
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = See text
|synonyms =
''Appunettia'' <small>R.D.Good</small><br />
''Belicia'' <small>Lundell</small><br />
''Bellynkxia'' <small>Müll.Arg.</small><br />
''Gutenbergia'' <small>Walp., orth. var.</small><br />
''Guttenbergia'' <small>Zoll. & Moritzi</small><br />
''Imantina'' <small>Hook.f.</small><br />
''Pogonanthus'' <small>Montrouz.</small><br />
''Rojoc'' <small>Adans.</small><br />
''Sarcopygme'' <small>Setch. & Christoph.</small><br />
''Sphaerophora'' <small>Blume</small><br />
''Stigmanthus'' <small>Lour.</small><br />
''Stigmatanthus'' <small>Roem. & Schult.</small>
|synonyms_ref = <ref name="GRIN"/><ref name=POWO>{{cite web |title=''Morinda'' L.. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A34941-1|access-date=2024-12-18 }}</ref>
}}

'''''Morinda''''' is a genus of [[flowering plant]]s in the [[Rubia|madder]] family, [[Rubiaceae]].<ref name="GRIN"/> The generic name is derived from the [[Latin]] words ''morus'' "[[Morus (plant)|mulberry]]", from the appearance of the fruits, and ''indica'', meaning "of [[India]]".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kaN-hLL-3qEC |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names |volume=III: M-Q |year=2000 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8493-2677-6 |page=1730}}</ref>

==Description==
Distributed in all [[Tropics|tropical]] regions of the world, ''Morinda'' includes 80 [[species]] of [[tree]]s, [[shrub]]s or [[vine]]s. All ''Morinda'' species bear [[Fruit#Aggregate fruit|aggregate]] or [[multiple fruit]]s that can be fleshy (like ''Morinda citrifolia'') or dry.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FrdidPp6HuAC |first=A.V.S.S. |last=Sambamurty |title=Taxonomy of Angiosperms |publisher=I. K. International Pvt Ltd |year=2005 |isbn=978-81-88237-16-6 |page=404}}</ref> Most species of this [[genus]] originate in the area of [[Borneo]], [[New Guinea]], Northern [[Australia]] and [[New Caledonia]].

In [[traditional medicine|traditional Japanese, Korean and Chinese medicine]], ''[[Morinda citrifolia]]'' is considered to be a [[herb]] with biological properties, although there is no confirmed evidence of clinical efficacy.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Morinda citrifolia (Noni) fruit--phytochemistry, pharmacology, safety | author=Potterat O, Hamburger M. | journal=Planta Med | year=2007 | volume=73 | issue=3 | pages=191–9 | pmid=17286240 | doi=10.1055/s-2007-967115| doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Fossil record==
The first [[fossil]] record for genus ''Morinda'' is from fruit of ''Morinda chinensis'' found in [[coal]] dated from the [[Eocene]] {{ma|Eocene|Oligocene|million years ago}} in the Changchang Basin of [[Hainan Island]], [[South China]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=First fruit fossil record of Morinda (Rubiaceae) from China|author=Xianggang Shi |author2=Jianhua Jin |author3=Chuangxing Ye |author4=Weiqiu Liu |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|volume=179|issue=1 July|year=2012|pages=13–16|doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2012.04.001|bibcode=2012RPaPa.179...13S }}</ref>

==Species==
''[[Plants of the World Online]]''<ref name = POWO/> currently (2024) includes:
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
# ''[[Morinda angolensis]]'' {{Au|(R.D.Good) F.White}}
# ''[[Morinda angustifolia]]'' {{Au|Roxb.}}
# ''[[Morinda asteroscepa]]'' {{Au|[[Karl Moritz Schumann|K.Schum.]]}} ([[Malawi]], [[Tanzania]])
# ''[[Morinda bracteata]]'' {{Au|Roxb.}} (synonym ''M. citrifolia'' var. ''bracteata'')
# ''[[Morinda buchii]]'' {{Au|Urb.}}
# ''[[Morinda carnosa]]'' {{Au|Venturina, E.E.L.Suarez & Alejandro}}
# ''[[Morinda chrysorhiza]]'' {{Au|(Thonn.) DC.}}
# ''[[Morinda citrifolia]]'' {{Au|L.}} &ndash; Noni, great morinda, aal ([[Indian Ocean]])
# ''[[Morinda corneri]]'' {{Au|K.M.Wong}}
# ''[[Morinda elliptica]]'' {{Au|(Hook.f.) Ridl.}}
# ''[[Morinda fasciculata]]'' {{Au|[[George Bentham|Benth.]]}} ([[Ecuador]])
# ''[[Morinda hoffmannioides]]'' {{Au|Standl.}}
# ''[[Morinda latibractea]]'' {{Au|Valeton}}
# ''[[Morinda leiantha]]'' {{Au|Kurz}}
# ''[[Morinda longiflora]]'' {{Au|G.Don}}
# ''[[Morinda longipetiolata]]'' {{Au|Steyerm.}}
# ''[[Morinda longissima]]'' {{Au|Y.Z.Ruan}}
# ''[[Morinda lucida]]'' {{Au|Benth.}}
# ''[[Morinda mefou]]'' {{Au|Cheek}}
# ''[[Morinda moaensis]]'' {{Au|Alain}}
# ''[[Morinda morindoides]]'' {{Au|(Baker) Milne-Redh.}}
# ''[[Morinda nana]]'' {{Au|Craib}}
# ''[[Morinda pacifica]]'' {{Au|(Reinecke) Razafim. & B.Bremer}}
# ''[[Morinda panamensis]]'' {{Au|Seem.}}
# ''[[Morinda pedunculata]]'' {{Au|Valeton}}
# ''[[Morinda persicifolia]]'' {{Au|Buch.-Ham.}}
# ''[[Morinda piperiformis]]'' {{Au|Miq.}}
# ''[[Morinda pubescens]]'' {{Au|Sm.}} (synonyms: ''[[Morinda coreia]]'' {{Au|[[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton|Buch.-Ham.]]}}, ''[[Morinda tinctoria]]'' {{Au|Roxb.}})
# ''[[Morinda ramosa]]'' {{Au|(Lauterb.) Razafim. & B.Bremer}}
# ''[[Morinda rosiflora]]'' {{Au|Y.Z.Ruan}}
# ''[[Morinda royoc]]'' {{Au|L.}} (synonym ''M. yucatanensis'' <small>Greenm.</small><ref name="GRINSpecies">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?7805 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212230941/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?7805  |archive-date=2012-12-12 |title=GRIN Species Records of ''Morinda'' |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=2010-11-28 }}</ref>)
# ''[[Morinda scabrida]]'' {{Au|Craib}}
# ''[[Morinda schultzei]]'' {{Au|Valeton}}
# ''[[Morinda sessiliflora]]'' {{Au|Bertol.}}
# ''[[Morinda talmyi]]'' {{Au|(Pit.) Chantar.}}
# ''[[Morinda titanophylla]]'' {{Au|E.M.A.Petit}}
# ''[[Morinda tomentosa]]'' {{Au|B.Heyne ex Roth}}
# ''[[Morinda turbacensis]]'' {{Au|Kunth}}
# ''[[Morinda undulata]]'' {{Au|Y.Z.Ruan}}
{{div col end}}
===Formerly placed here===
*''[[Morinda jasminoides]]'' <small>[[Allan Cunningham (botanist)|A.Cunn.]]</small> &ndash; Sweet morinda (from Eastern Australia) is a synonym of ''[[Gynochthodes jasminoides]]''
*''[[Morinda officinalis]]'' <small>F.C.How<!--1958--></small> (from [[China]]) is a synonym of ''[[Gynochthodes officinalis]]''
*''[[Morinda trimera]]'' <small>[[William Hillebrand|Hillebr.]]</small> &ndash; Noni kuahiwi<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=35070  |taxon=''Morinda'' |accessdate=2010-11-28}}</ref> (from [[Hawaii]]) is a synonym of ''[[Gynochthodes trimera]]''.
*''Morinda muscosa'' <small>Jacq.</small><ref name="GRINSpecies"/> is a synonym of ''[[Psychotria]] muscosa'' <small>(Jacq.) Steyerm.</small>
* '''Note:''' Plants in the former genus ''[[Appunettia]]'' are now considered synonymous with ''Morinda''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/rubiaceae/ World Checklist of Rubiaceae]
*{{Commons category inline}}
*{{Wikispecies inline}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q850491}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Morinda| ]]
[[Category:Rubiaceae genera]]