freckles and pigmented acne scars, are of serious concern to women. Their treatment usually involves the use of medicines or medicinal cosmetics containing depigmenting agents or skin-whitening agents. For example, hydroquinone and 4methoxyphenol are used as topical therapies for hyperpigmentation disorders. Active ingredients available for medicated whitening cosmetics in Japan include vitamin...

Androdioecy is a rare sexual system in nature, as predicted theoretically. Among the androecious species reported so far, Castilla elastica (Moraceae) is unique in that flowers are unisexual and staminate and pistillate flowers on cosexual plants are produced on different inflorescences. In addition, inflorescence structure of staminate inflorescences on males and staminate and pistillate inflo...

As one of the most specialized pollination syndromes, the fig (Ficus)–fig wasp (Agaonidae) mutualism can shed light on how pollinator behaviour and specificity affect plant diversification through processes such as reproductive isolation and hybridization. Pollinator sharing among species has important implications for Ficus species delimitation and the evolutionary history of the mutualism. Al...

The list of families with diagonal ("dendritic" or " f1amelike" of other authors) patterns of vessel aggregation is similar to the list of families that have vasicentric tracheids. This paper attempts to deal with apparent exceptions. Because of recent reports of vasicentric tracheids, the families with diagonal vessel aggregations are all also on the list of families with vasicentric tracheids...

Medical plants play an important role in the management of diabetes mellitus especially in developing countries where resources are meager. This review presents the profiles of plants with hypoglycaemic properties, reported in the literature from 1990 to 2000. The profiles presented include information about the scientific name, family, methodology used, the degree of hypoglycaemic activity and...

To determine the species of whiteflies occurring on mulberry, Morus alba L. (Rosales: Moraceae) in China, we collected samples in more than 87 sites in 16 provinces of China from 2008 to 2011. In total, 10 species, representing seven genera of the subfamily Aleyrodinae, were identified. Of these, six species are newly recorded on mulberry in China, namely, Aleuroclava ficicola Takahashi, Aleuro...

As frações solúveis em hexano dos rizomas ou das folhas de cinco espécies do gênero Dorstenia (Moraceae) (D. bahiensis Kl., D. bryoniifolia Mart ex. Miq., D. carautae C.C.Berg., D. cayapiaa Vell. e D. heringerii Car. & Val.) foram analisadas por HRGC-MS (cromatografia gasosa de alta resolução acoplada a espectrometria de massas). Foram identificados triterpenos pentacíclicos, esteróides e furoc...