# Excoecaria

Excoecaria is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, formally described by Linnaeus in 1759. The genus is native to the Old World Tropics (Africa, southern Asia, northern Australia, and assorted oceanic islands).

## Etymology

Genus name, Excoecaria, is from the Latin word excaeco, which means "to blind" and refers to the sap of the plants that can cause temporary blindness.

## Toxic latex

The milky latex of Excoecaria agallocha, also known as Thillai, milky mangrove, blind-your-eye mangrove and river poison tree, is poisonous. Mangroves of this plant surround the ancient Thillai Chidambaram Temple in Tamil Nadu. Contact with skin can cause irritation and rapid blistering; contact with eyes will result in temporary blindness. It is distributed in the Pichavaram wetlands, near Chidambaram India, in Australia from northern New South Wales, along the northern coastline around to Western Australia.The latex is extremely poisonous. Even dried and powdered leaves contain the poison which can kill fish very quickly.

## Species list

The list of currently recognized species in this genus.
* Excoecaria acerifolia - Uttarakhand, Yunnan, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan
* Excoecaria acuminata - Fiji
* Excoecaria agallocha - S China, Indian Subcontinent, SE Asia, Papuasia, N Australia, W Pacific Is
* Excoecaria antsingyensis - Madagascar
* Excoecaria aporusifolia - Vietnam
* Excoecaria bantamensis - S Thailand, Philippines, Java, Kalimantan Barat
* Excoecaria benthamiana - Seychelles
* Excoecaria borneensis - Borneo, Sumatra, Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku
* Excoecaria bussei - E + S Africa
* Excoecaria canjoerensis - India
* Excoecaria cochinchinensis - S China, Indochina, W Malaysia
* Excoecaria confertiflora - Viti Levu
* Excoecaria cuspidata - Meghalaya
* Excoecaria dallachyana - Queensland, New South Wales
* Excoecaria formosana - Nansei-shoto, Taiwan
* Excoecaria glaucescens - Madagascar
* Excoecaria goudotiana - Madagascar
* Excoecaria grahamii - W Africa
* Excoecaria guineensis - W + C Africa
* Excoecaria holophylla - Myanmar
* Excoecaria kawakamii - Taiwan
* Excoecaria laotica - Laos, Thailand
* Excoecaria lissohylla - Madagascar
* Excoecaria madagascariensis - Madagascar, E + SE + S Africa
* Excoecaria magenjensis - Mozambique
* Excoecaria obtusa - Philippines
* Excoecaria oppositifolia - Indian Subcontinent, Indochina
* Excoecaria pachyphylla - Philippines
* Excoecaria parvifolia - N Australia
* Excoecaria perrieri - Madagascar
* Excoecaria philippinensis - Philippines, Sabah
* Excoecaria poilanei - Vietnam
* Excoecaria rectinervis - Nicobar Islands
* Excoecaria simii - Cape Province, KwaZulu-Natal
* Excoecaria stenophylla - Philippines
* Excoecaria thouarsiana - Madagascar
* Excoecaria venenata - S China
* Excoecaria yunnanensis - Yunnan

## Former species

These species were once included in Excoecaria but are not now consider members of this genus. They have been moved to these other genera: Actinostemon, Adenopeltis, Alchornea, Anomostachys, Bocquillonia, Bonania, Cerbera, Falconeria, Grimmeodendron, Gymnanthes, Homalanthus, Maprounea, Microstachys, Neoshirakia, Sapium, Sclerocroton, Sebastiania, Shirakiopsis, Spirostachys, Stillingia, and Triadica.
* E. abyssinica - Shirakiopsis elliptica
* E. aerea - Sapium glandulosum
* E. africana - Spirostachys africana
* E. albicans - Gymnanthes albicans
* E. arguta - Sapium argutum
* E. baccata - Balakata baccata
* E. bicalcarata - Sebastiania bicalcarata
* E. biglandulosa - Sapium glandulosum
* E. bodenbenderi - Stillingia bodenbenderi
* E. brachyandra - Actinostemon brachypodus
* E. brachypoda - Actinostemon brachypodus
* E. brasiliensis - Sebastiania brasiliensis
* E. bridgesii - Sebastiania bridgesii
* E. caribaea - Actinostemon caribaeus
* E. chamelaea - Microstachys chamaelea
* E. colliguaya - Adenopeltis serrata
* E. concolor - Actinostemon concolor
* E. cubensis - Bonania cubana
* E. cuneata - Sapium cuneatum
* E. discolor - Sebastiania klotzschiana
* E. diversifolia - Shirakiopsis indica
* E. eglandulata - Sebastiania eglandulata
* E. eglandulosa - Grimmeodendron eglandulosum
* E. emarginata - Bonania emarginata
* E. erythrosperma - Bonania erythrosperma
* E. faradianensis - Microstachys faradianensis
* E. farinosa - Gymnanthes farinosa
* E. glandulosa - Gymnanthes glandulosa
* E. glauca - Shirakiopsis indica
* E. glomeriflora - Spirostachys venenifera
* E. guianensis - Maprounea guianensis
* E. haematosperma - Sapium haematospermum
* E. hippophaifolia - Sebastiania schottiana
* E. hochstetteriana - Sclerocroton integerrimus
* E. indica - Shirakiopsis indica
* E. insignis - Falconeria insignis
* E. integerrima - Sclerocroton integerrimus
* E. japonica - Neoshirakia japonica
* E. klotzschii - Actinostemon klotzschii
* E. laevis - Homalanthus populneus
* E. lanceolaria - Triadica cochinchinensis
* E. lastellei - Anomostachys lastellei
* E. laurocerasus - Sapium laurocerasus
* E. leucogyna - Sapium leucogynum
* E. leucosperma - Sapium leucogynum
* E. lucida - Gymnanthes lucida
* E. macrocarpa - Sapium macrocarpum
* E. manniana - Shirakiopsis elliptica
* E. marginata - Sapium glandulosum
* E. martii - Sapium obovatum
* E. mauritiana - Stillingia lineata
* E. melanosticta - Sclerocroton melanostictus
* E. myricifolia - Bonania myricifolia
* E. oblongifolia - Sclerocroton oblongifolius
* E. obovata - Sapium obovatum
* E. obtusifolia - Sebastiania obtusifolia
* E. obtusiloba - Sapium glandulosum
* E. occidentalis - Sapium glandulosum
* E. ovatifolia - Cerbera odollam
* E. pallens - Gymnanthes pallens
* E. pallida - Sapium pallidum
* E. potamophila - Sebastiania potamophila
* E. reticulata - Sclerocroton integerrimus
* E. rhomboidea - Bocquillonia rhomboidea
* E. riparia - Gymnanthes riparia
* E. sagrae - Grimmeodendron eglandulosum
* E. salpingadenia - Stillingia salpingadenia
* E. sebifera - Triadica sebifera
* E. serrata - Adenopeltis serrata
* E. serrulata - Gymnanthes gaudichaudii
* E. sicca - Alchornea sicca
* E. stylaris - Sapium stylare
* E. suberosa - Sapium glandulosum
* E. subsessilis - Sebastiania subsessilis
* E. subulata - Sebastiania subulata
* E. sylvatica - Stillingia sylvatica
* E. synonym - Spirostachys africana
* E. tenax - Gymnanthes pallens
* E. tijueensis - Sapium haematospermum
* E. tinifolia - Gymnanthes elliptica
* E. tristis - Sapium argutum
* E. unequidentata - Bocquillonia rhomboidea
* E. venenifera - Spirostachys venenifera
* E. venulosa - Gymnanthes albicans
* E. virgata - Shirakiopsis virgata
* E. warmingii - Sebastiania warmingii