What is "malpighia"

Malpighia \Mal*pi"ghi*a\, n. [NL. See Malpighian.] (Bot.) A genus of tropical American shrubs with opposite leaves and small white or reddish flowers. The drupes of Malpighia glabra (formerly Malpighia urens) are eaten under the name of Barbadoes cherries.

n. (context botany English) Any of the genus ''Malpighia'' of tropical American shrubs.

Malpighia is a genus of flowering plants in the nance family, Malpighiaceae. It contains about 45 species of shrubs or small trees, all of which are native to the American tropics. The generic name honours Marcello Malpighi, a 17th-century Italian physician and botanist. The species grow to tall, with a dense, often thorny crown. The leaves are evergreen, simple, long, with an entire or serrated margin. The flowers are solitary or in umbels of two to several together, each flower diameter, with five white, pink, red, or purple petals. The fruit is a red, orange or purple drupe, containing 2-3 hard seeds. M. emarginata is cultivated for its sweet and juicy fruits, which are very rich in vitamin C.