A modern reference to temperate woody plants, including updated content from this site and much new material, can be found at Trees and Shrubs Online.

Maytenus

Family

Celastraceae

As once understood, Maytenus was a genus confined to the New World, from Florida and S. Texas to the Magellan region, and most numerously represented in the tropics of C. and S. America, and in the West Indies. Recently, however, numerous African species previously placed in Celastrus or Gymnosporia have been transferred to it. It resembles Huonymus and Celastrus in having the seeds wholly or partly enclosed in a fleshy aril. The generic name derives from the Indian name for M. boaria – ‘maiten’.

Species articles

Maytenus boaria Mol.

Modern name

Some names used by Bean have now been superseded and are no longer familiar. To ensure that all plants can be easily found, under any name, we have cross-referenced to The Plant List, a collaboration between RBG Kew, Missouri Botanical Gardens and other organisations, which aims to provide a currently accepted name for any plant. Not all taxonomists will agree with all Plant List nomenclature, but it provides a baseline to compare names. For each species above, clicking on the Modern Name will link to the entry for that name on The Plant List website.