Molina has also been linked to the naming of the genus Maytenus.
The Howiesons Poort period shows evidence for thicket or shrubland vegetation now usually found in gorges, such as Diospyros, Cassine peragua, Maytenus, Rhus, and Hartogiella schinoides.
Maytenus, as do most of the Celastraceae, harbours an alkaloid named celastrin first obtained from Celastrus scandens by Prof. Edward S. Wayne of Cincinnati in 1872 as a white, crystalline substance.