Cordia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the borage

Borage

Borage, , also known as a starflower, is an annual herb originating in Syria, but naturalized throughout the Mediterranean region, as well as Asia Minor, Europe, North Africa, and South America. It grows to a height of , and is bristly or hairy all over the stems and leaves; the leaves are...

 family, Boraginaceae

Boraginaceae

Boraginaceae, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, include a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 146 genera found worldwide.A number of familiar plants belong to this family....

. It contains about 300 species of shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s and tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s, which are found worldwide mostly in warmer regions. Many of the species are commonly called manjack, while bocote may refer to several Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

n species in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

. The generic name honours German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 botanist and pharmacist Valerius Cordus

Valerius Cordus

Valerius Cordus was a German physician and botanist who authored one of the greatest pharmacopoeias and one of the most celebrated herbals in history...

 (1515-1544). Like most other Boraginaceae, a majority have trichome

Trichome

Trichomes are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants and certain protists. These are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae.- Algal trichomes :...

s (hairs) on the leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

.

Ornamental

Many Cordias have fragrant, showy flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s and are popular in garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

s, although they are not especially hardy.

As food

A number of the tropical species have edible fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

s, known by a wide variety of names including clammy cherries, glue berries, sebesten, or snotty gobbles. In India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, the fruits of local species are used as a vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

, raw, cooked, or pickled

Indian pickle

Indian pickles are made from certain individual varieties of vegetables and fruits that are chopped into small pieces and cooked in edible oils like sesame oil or brine with many different Indian spices like asafetida, red chili powder, turmeric, fenugreek and plenty of salt. Some regions also...

, and are known by many names, including lasora in Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

. One such species is Fragrant Manjack (C. dichotoma

Cordia dichotoma

Cordia dichotoma is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to the Indomalaya ecozone, northern Australia, and western Melanesia. Common names include fragrant manjack, snotty gobbles, glue berry, pink pearl, bird lime tree, Indian cherry, लसोड़ा lasoda and...

), which is called gunda or tenti dela in Hindi and lasura in Nepali. The fruit of the Fragrant Manjack is called phoà-pò·-chí (破布子), 樹子仔, or 樹子(POJ: chhiū-chí) in Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 where they are eaten pickled

Pickling

Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...

.

Wood

The wood of several Cordia species is commercially harvested. Ecuador Laurel (C. alliodora), Ziricote (C. dodecandra), Spanish Elm (C. gerascanthus), and C. goeldiana are used to make furniture and doors in Central and South America.

Ziricote and Bocote are sometimes used as a wood

Tonewood

Tonewood generally refers to any wood which may be used in the construction of a musical instrument. Many acoustic properties are often assigned to specific wood species; however the description of these properties is itself a large subject and beyond the scope of this article...

 for making acoustic guitar

Acoustic guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

 backs and sides. Well-known guitarist Richard Thompson currently plays a Lowden F-35C RT Richard Thompson Signature Model with Ziricote back and sides. Similarly, drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

s are made from C. abyssinica, C. millenii, and C. platythrysa due to the resonance of the wood.

Ecology

Cordia species are used as food plants by the caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

s of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species, such as Endoclita

Endoclita

Endoclita is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 60 described species found in eastern and southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.- Species :*E. aboe - India*E. absurdus - China*E. actinidae - China...

 malabaricus, Bucculatrix

Bucculatricidae

Bucculatricidae or is a family of moths. This small family has representatives in all parts of the world. Some authors place the group as a subfamily of the family Lyonetiidae....

 caribbea, and Bucculatrix cordiaella. The Wild Olive Tortoise Beetle (Physonota alutacea) feeds on C. boissieri, C. dentata

Cordia dentata

Cordia dentata, commonly known as White Manjack , is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae.It is native to the southern United States, México, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela. In the Caribbean, it is found in Jamaica, Cuba, Virgin Islands and Porto Rico. It is also...

, C. inermis, and C. macrostachya.

Selected species

Cordia africana Cordia africana Cordia africana is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to Africa. It is sometimes called Cordia Abyssinia which implies that it may have first been identified from examples growing there.-Uses:... Lam. – White Manjack Cordia alliodora (Ruiz & Pav. Ruiz y Pavón -Ruiz et Pavón:Ruiz y Pavón Spanish form of the combination Ruiz et Pavón, as used as authority in plant species.-Joseph Pavón:Jose Antonio Pavón y Jimenez Spanish botanist, with Hipólito Ruiz López and the French specialist Dombey visited between 1779 and 1788 Chile, Peru and other South American... ) Oken Lorenz Oken Lorenz Oken was a German naturalist.Oken was born Lorenz Okenfuss in Bohlsbach in Baden and studied natural history and medicine at the universities of Freiburg and Würzburg. He went on to the University of Göttingen, where he became a Privatdozent , and shortened his name to Oken... – Spanish Elm, Ecuador Laurel, Salmwood, Bocote (Neotropics) Cordia angustifolia (West ex Willd.) Roemer & J.A.Schultes – Basora Cordia bahamensis Urban Ignatz Urban Ignatz Urban was a German botanist. He is known for his contributions to the flora of the Caribbean and Brazil, and for his work as curator of the Berlin Botanical Garden. Born the son of a brewer, Urban showed an interest in botany as an undergraduate... – Bahama Manjack Cordia bellonis Urban – Serpentine Manjack Cordia boissieri A.DC. – Anacahuita, Texas Olive (southern Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... , Northern Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... ) Cordia borinquensis Urban – Capá, Muneco (Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an... ) Cordia buddeloides Cordia collococca L. – Red Manjack (Neotropics) Cordia crenata Cordia croatii Cordia curassavica Cordia curassavica Cordia curassavica, commonly known as Black Sage or Wild Sage, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to tropical America and has been widely introduced to Southeast Asia and the tropical Pacific region, where it is an invasive weed... (Jacq.) Roem. & Schult. – Black Sage, Wild Sage Cordia dentata Cordia dentata Cordia dentata, commonly known as White Manjack , is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae.It is native to the southern United States, México, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela. In the Caribbean, it is found in Jamaica, Cuba, Virgin Islands and Porto Rico. It is also... Poir. – White Manjack Cordia dichotoma Cordia dichotoma Cordia dichotoma is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to the Indomalaya ecozone, northern Australia, and western Melanesia. Common names include fragrant manjack, snotty gobbles, glue berry, pink pearl, bird lime tree, Indian cherry, लसोड़ा lasoda and... G.Forst – Fragrant Manjack, Bird Lime Tree (Tropical Asia and Australasia Australasia Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes... ) Cordia dodecandra DC. – Ziricote (Southern Mexico, northern Central America, Cuba) Cordia eleagnoides DC. (Mexico) Cordia gerascanthus L. – Yauco, Spanish Elm, Laurel Negro, Baria Cordia globosa (Jacq.) Kunth – Bloodberry, Butterfly Sage, Curaciao Bush Cordia guanacastensis Cordia holstii Cordia kingstonia Cordia laevigata Lam. – Smooth Manjack (Central America, Caribbean) Cordia lima – Lija

Cordia linnaei Stearn. Cordia lutea Cordia macleodii Cordia martinicensis Cordia millenii Baker Cordia myxa Cordia myxa Cordia myxa is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is a medium-sized broad-leaved deciduous tree. Common names include لسوڑا, Lasura, Assyrian Plum, Pidar, Panugeri, Naruvilli, Geduri, Spistan, and Burgund dulu wanan... L. – Assyrian Plum (South Asia South Asia South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east... ) Cordia nesophila I.M.Johnst. Ivan Murray Johnston I. M. Johnston , was a United States botanist. He studied at Pomona College in Claremont, California and at Harvard University... (Lesser Antilles) Cordia nitida – Red Manjack, Indian Cherry Cordia nodosa Cordia obliqua Willd. – Clammy Cherry Cordia panamensis L.Riley (Southern Mexico, Central America, northern South America) Cordia parvifolia A.DC. – Small-leaf Geigertree Cordia podocephala Torr. – Texas Manjack Cordia polycephala (Lam.) I.M.Johnst. – Black-sage Cordia rickseckeri Millsp. – Black Manjack, Orange Manjack, San Bartolomé Cordia rupicola Cordia rupicola Cordia rupicola, commonly known as the Puerto Rico Manjack, is a critically endangered species of flowering shrub in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to the islands of Puerto Rico and Anegada.-Taxonomy:... Urban – Puerto Rico Manjack (Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an... ) Cordia sebestena L. – Geiger Tree, Large-leaf Geigertree (southern Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... , Greater Antilles Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles are one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles constitute almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies.-Greater Antilles in context :The islands of the Caribbean Sea, collectively known as... , Central America Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent... ) Cordia sinensis Cordia sinensis Cordia sinensis is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae. The species’ range extend from South Africa, through East Africa Madagascar and the Middle East to the Indian Subcontinent and Eastern Indochina. There is also a disjunct native population in Senegal. The species... Lam. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck , often known simply as Lamarck, was a French naturalist... (=C. gharaf) – Grey-leafed Saucerberry Cordia subcordata Lam. – Kou, Tou, Marer (Africa Africa Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area... , South Asia South Asia South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east... , Southeast Asia Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic... , northern Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... , Pacific Islands Pacific Islands The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago.... ) Cordia sulcata DC. – Mucilage Manjack, Laylay, White Manjack, Wild Clammy Cherry Cordia thaisiana Cordia trichotoma (Vell.) Arráb. ex Steud. – Letiribí Cordia wagneriorum R.A.Howard – Luquillo Mountain Manjack

Formerly placed here

• Carmona retusa
  Carmona retusa
  Carmona retusa, also known as the Fukien Tea Tree or Philippine Tea Tree, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. Its specific epithet comes from the Latin retusus , with reference to the leaf apex....
  
  (Vahl) Masam. (as C. retusa Vahl)