Angiosperms, or flowering plants as they are commonly known, dominate the plant kingdom with over a whopping 3.5 lakh species. Unlike the bisexual plants that are predominant, where both the reproductive structures are present in the same flower of the plant, some have the male and female flowers in different plants. Such plants are called dioecious plants, and there are over 15,600 species of them across the world. Many of these plants have been used traditionally as food, medicine and timber for over thousands of  years.

The incidence of prostrate cancer, affecting the prostate gland in men, is one of the increasingly growing types of cancers and the cause of death across the world, particularly in developing countries. While traditional anti-cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy promise hope, they often come with undesirable side effects. In a new research, scientists have shown the possibility of natural extracts from two plants found in tropical regions of the country to be effective against prostate cancer. This research definitely promises to bring in new hopes in those battered with cancer, hope the scientists.