A former plant family name (now called Clusiaceae) containing trees and shrubs that produce gums and resins.
From Latin 'gutta' (drop) + '-ferae' (plural feminine suffix meaning bearing). This formal taxonomic name literally means 'gum-bearing' or 'drop-bearing' plants.
When scientists named this plant family Guttiferae in the 1700s, they were organizing tropical plants by their most obvious shared trait—the precious resins that oozed from them like drops of liquid gold.
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