Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Hippomane

Hippomane is a genus of plants in the Euphorbiaceae described by Linnaeus in 1753. It is native to the West Indies, Central America, Mexico, Florida, Venezuela, Colombia, and Galápagos.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
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≈ 2 min
Length
388 w
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Hippomane
Hippomane mancinella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Euphorbioideae
Tribe: Hippomaneae
Subtribe: Hippomaninae
Genus: Hippomane
L.
Type species
Hippomane mancinella
Synonyms3
  • Mancanilla Plum. ex Adans.
  • Mancinella Tussac

Hippomane is a genus of plants in the Euphorbiaceae described by Linnaeus in 1753.24 It is native to the West Indies, Central America, Mexico, Florida, Venezuela, Colombia, and Galápagos.356789

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 (= (h)ippos) horse and μανία (= mania) insanity / frenzy - hence "sending horses insane".10

Species

Accepted Species3
  1. Hippomane horrida Urb. & Ekman. - Barahona in Dominican Rep
  2. Hippomane mancinella L. - West Indies, Mexico, Central America, Florida Keys, Venezuela, Colombia, Galápagos
  3. Hippomane spinosa L. - Hispaniola
Species formerly included3

moved to other genera: Sapium

  1. Hippomane aucuparia - Sapium glandulosum
  2. Hippomane biglandulosa - Sapium glandulosum
  3. Hippomane fruticosa - Sapium glandulosum
  4. Hippomane glandulosa - Sapium glandulosum
  5. Hippomane zeocca - Sapium glandulosum
References

References

  1. lectotype designated by M. L. Green, Prop. Brit. Bot. 195 (1929)
  2. Tropicos, Hippomane L.
  3. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  4. Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1191-1192 in Latin
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Webster, G. L. & M.J. Huft. 1988. Revised synopsis of Panamanian Euphorbiaceae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 75(3): 1087–1144.
  9. Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution map
  10. 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. ISBN 978-1-4398-9445-3 Volume III E-L pps. 484-5.