Chiococca alba

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Species of flowering plant

title: "Chiococca alba" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chiococceae", "plants-described-in-1893", "flora-of-texas", "flora-of-florida", "flora-of-mexico", "flora-of-southern-america", "medicinal-plants-of-central-america", "antidiarrhoeals", "medicinal-plants-of-north-america", "medicinal-plants-of-south-america"] description: "Species of flowering plant" topic_path: "geography/mexico" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiococca_alba" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of flowering plant ::

| image = Chiococca alba.jpg | image_caption = | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | genus = Chiococca | species = alba | authority = (L.) Hitchc. | synonyms = *Chiococca bermudiana S.Br.

  • Chiococca racemosa L.
  • Lonicera alba L.

Chiococca alba is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) native to Florida and the extreme southern tip of Texas in the United States, Bermuda, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Galápagos, and tropical South America. Common names include David's milkberry, West Indian milkberry, cahinca and West Indian snowberry. The specific epithet, alba, means "white" in Latin and refers to the color of its fruits.

Description

West Indian milkberry is an evergreen woody vine or scrambling shrub that often grows on other vegetation and may reach a height of 6 m. The opposite, simple leaves are 5 - long and may be elliptic to ovate or broadly lanceolate in shape. Yellow, bell-shaped flowers up to 1 cm in length appear throughout the year on racemes or panicles of six of to eight. The fruit is a white drupe 4 - in diameter that generally contains two dark brown seeds.

Taxonomy

Lonicera alba was described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus. It was moved to Chiococca in 1893 by A. S. Hitchcock, and is considered the type species of that genus. Stewardson Brown described the Bermuda population of the plant as a new species, C. bermudiana, in 1909 due to its lighter green and larger leaves, larger berries, and wider and longer pedicels. Many authorities consider C. bermudiana a synonym of C. alba.

Uses

Chiococca alba is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental for its dark green, evergreen foliage and white drupes. It is used in espalier and grown on trellises. The roots have several uses in herbal medicine, including as a laxative, diuretic, emetic, and antidiarrhoeal. The plant was sold commercially in Europe and the United States for those purposes at one time.

References

References

  1. Roberts, A.. (2014). "''Chiococca alba''".
  2. {{GRIN
  3. Sarkis, Samia. (December 2009). "Recovery plan for eight species of flowering plants, ''Carex bermudia'', ''Peperomia septentrionalis'', ''Phaseolus lignosus'', ''Erigeron darrellianus'', ''Galium bermudense'', ''Hypericum hypericoides'', ''Psychotria lingustrifolia'', in Bermuda". Department of Conservation, Bermuda.
  4. "David's Milkberry, Snowberry, Milkberry, David's Root, Perlilla, Canica, Cahinca, Cainea, Caninara, Aceitillo, Madreselva, Lagrimas de San Pedro, Lagrimas de Maria, Oreja de Raton, Suelda, Consuelda, Bejuco de Berac, Bejuco de Berraco, Xcanchac-che". Texas A&M University.
  5. "''Chiococca alba'' (L.) A.S. Hitchc.". Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
  6. "''Chiococca alba'' (L.) A.S. Hitchc. West Indian snow-berry". United States Forest Service.
  7. Hammer, Roger L.. (December 2023). "Florida Keys Wildflowers: A Field Guide to Wildflowers, Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Florida Keys". Globe Pequot.
  8. Nelson, Gil. (1996). "The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida: a Reference and Field Guide". Pineapple Press Inc.
  9. Gilman, Edward F.. (October 1999). "Chiococca alba". University of Florida.
  10. {{GRIN. ''Lonicera alba''. 22545
  11. "''Chiococca'' P. Browne". Missouri Botanical Garden.
  12. Austin, Daniel F.. (2004). "Florida Ethnobotany". CRC Press.

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chiococceaeplants-described-in-1893flora-of-texasflora-of-floridaflora-of-mexicoflora-of-southern-americamedicinal-plants-of-central-americaantidiarrhoealsmedicinal-plants-of-north-americamedicinal-plants-of-south-america