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Paronychia (plant)

Paronychia
Paronychia argentea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Paronychia
Mill.
Species

110+, see text

Paronychia is a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae with over 110 species worldwide, mostly from warm-temperate North America, Eurasia, South America and Africa. They are herbs that are annual or biennial or perennial in life span. Some species have a woody base. For the most part they have small, white to yellow-white colored flowers that are often hidden within the paired bracts.

The genus Siphonychia has been incorporated into Paronychia by botanists.

The common names for some of the species include chickweed, nailwort, and Whitlow-wort. The genus gets its name from the disease of the fingernails which it was once thought to cure. Traditional healers in modern-day use species of this genus to treat kidney stones.[1]

Selected species

References

  1. ^ Jardat, Nidal Amin; et al. (May 8, 2017). "Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal plants practiced by traditional healers and herbalists for treatment of some urological diseases in the West Bank/Palestine". BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 17 (1): 255. doi:10.1186/s12906-017-1758-4. PMC 5422913. PMID 28482898.
  2. ^ "Paronychia argentea Lam". Plants For A Future.
  3. ^ "Paronychia argyrocoma (Michx.) Nutt. - silvery nailwort". Natural Resources Conservation Services, United States Department of Agriculture.
  4. ^ "Paronychia palaestina Eig | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science".
  5. ^ "Paronychia virginica Spreng. – yellow nailwort". Natural Resources Conservation Services, United States Department of Agriculture.