''Linnaeosicyos'' is a
monotypic genus
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s belonging to the family
Cucurbitaceae
The Cucurbitaceae (), also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family (biology), family consisting of about 965 species in 101 genera. . The only species is ''Linnaeosicyos amara'' ., which is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
.
Taxonomy
The genus name of ''Linnaeosicyos'' is in honour of
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
(1707–1778). The Latin
specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
of ''amara'' is derived from ''amarus'' meaning bitter.
Both the genus and species were first described in
Syst. Bot. Vol.33 on page 350 in 2008.
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q16787380, from2=Q15536201
Cucurbitaceae
Monotypic Cucurbitaceae genera
Plants described in 2008
Flora of the Dominican Republic
Flora without expected TNC conservation status