Abstract

COLMENERO-ROBLES, José Aurelio; GUAL-DIAZ, Martha  and  FERNANDEZ-NAVA, Rafael. The genus Corchorus (Tiliaceae) in Mexico. Polibotánica [online]. 2010, n.29, pp.29-65. ISSN 1405-2768.

The genus Corchorus L. belongs to the family Tiliaceae (sensu Cronquist, 1981) and includes an estimated 100 species worldwide. Most are herbaceous and occur mainly in pantropical regions. In America, there are 10 species currently recorded (Martínez, 1981) and in Mexico seven, of which C. aestuans L., C. hirtus. L., C. orinocensis Kunth, and C. siliquosus L. are native to America, C. capsularis L. and C. olitorius L. are native to Asia and C. trilocularis L., to Africa. A synopsis of the genus in Mexico is presented, including a key to species, descriptions, distribution and ecological information, as well as common names and uses.

Keywords : Corchorus; Tiliaceae; Mexico.