Boerhavia, the spiderlings, 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 about 40 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of annual

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

 or perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

 plants in the four o'clock flower

Mirabilis jalapa

Mirabilis jalapa is the most commonly grown ornamental species of Mirabilis, and is available in a range of colours. Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa is a town in Mexico...

 family, Nyctaginaceae

Nyctaginaceae

Nyctaginaceae, the Four O'Clock Family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions...

. The common name refers to the appearance of a spider

Spider

Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

 or spider's web given by the numerous long, slender and interlocking stems of the inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

s. The genus was named for Herman Boerhaave

Herman Boerhaave

Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions...

, a Dutch

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

 botanist, and the genus name is frequently misspelled as "Boerhaavia".

They are native to mostly warm tropical areas.

Selected species

• Boerhavia anisophylla Torr. – wineflower
• Boerhavia coccinea
  Boerhavia coccinea
  Boerhavia coccinea is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family which is known by many common names, including scarlet spiderling, red boerhavia, hogweed, and in Spanish, hierba del cancer and hierba de la hormiga...
  
  P.Mill. – scarlet spiderling
• Boerhavia coulteri
  Boerhavia coulteri
  Boerhavia coulteri is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name Coulter's spiderling. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, particularly the desert areas. This is an annual herb producing an erect or creeping stem up to about 70...
  
  (Hook.f.) S.Wats. - Coulter spiderling, Coulter's spiderling
• Boerhavia diffusa
  Boerhavia diffusa
  Boerhavia diffusa is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family which is commonly known as tar vine, punarnava meaning that which rejuvenates or renews the body, or red spiderling. It is taken in herbal medicine for pain relief and other uses. The leaves of Boerhavia diffusa are often...
  
  L. – red spiderling
• Boerhavia erecta L. – erect spiderling
• Boerhavia gracillima Heimerl – slim-stalk spiderling, slimstalk spiderling
• Boerhavia herbstii Fosberg – alena
• Boerhavia intermedia
  Boerhavia intermedia
  Boerhavia intermedia is a species of spiderling plant known by the common name five-wing spiderling. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the common weed Boerhavia erecta. This spiderling is a fairly widespread annual herb of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico...
  
  M.E.Jones – five-wing spiderling, fivewing spiderling, Jone's boerhavia
• Boerhavia linearifolia Gray – narrowleaf spiderling
• Boerhavia mathisiana F.B.Jones – Mathis' spiderling
• Boerhavia megaptera Standl. – annual spiderling, Tucson Mountain spiderling
• Boerhavia pterocarpa S.Wats. – Apache Pass spiderling
• Boerhavia purpurascens Gray – purple spiderling
• Boerhavia repens L.
• Boerhavia scandens L. – climbing spiderling, climbing wartclub, wishbone vine
• Boerhavia spicata Choisy – creeping spiderling
• Boerhavia triquetra S.Wats. – slender spiderling
• Boerhavia wrightii
  Boerhavia wrightii
  Boerhavia wrightii is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name largebract spiderling. It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows amongst desert shrubs. This is an annual herb producing a slender, spidery...
  
  Gray – Wright's boerhavia

Cultivation and uses

Several species of Boerhavia are important weeds in agricultural and horticultural settings.