''Rhaponticum'' is a genus 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 in the tribe

Cardueae The Cardueae are a tribe (biology), tribe of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) and the subfamily Carduoideae. Most of them are commonly known as thistles; four of the best known genera are ''Carduus'', ''Cynara'' (containing the ...

within the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. , it is accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

, but rejected by the Global Compositae Database in favour of '' Leuzea''.

Taxonomy

The taxonomic history of the genus name ''Rhaponticum'' is complicated. It has been published at least four times according to the

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inclu ...

. The earliest was by

Albrecht von Haller Albrecht von Haller (also known as Albertus de Haller; 16 October 170812 December 1777) was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, encyclopedist, bibliographer and poet. A pupil of Herman Boerhaave and Jacob Winslow, he is sometimes r ...

in 1742, which is regarded as an invalid name (''nom. inval.''). The next publication was by

Sébastien Vaillant Sébastien Vaillant (; May 26, 1669 – May 20, 1722) was a French botanist who was born at Vigny, Val-d'Oise, Vigny in present-day Val d'Oise. Early years Vaillant went to school at the age of four and by the age of five, he was collecting p ...

in 1754, also an invalid name. The next was by Christian Gottlieb Ludwig in 1757. This has become a

conserved name A conserved name or ''nomen conservandum'' (plural ''nomina conservanda'', abbreviated as ''nom. cons.'') is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules wh ...

(nom. cons.), with the conserved

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

''Centaurea rhapontica'' (syn. '' Leuzea rhapontica'' subsp. ''rhapontica''). A subsequent publication by

Michel Adanson Michel Adanson (7 April 17273 August 1806) was an 18th-century French botanist and naturalist who traveled to Senegal to study flora and fauna. He proposed a "natural system" of taxonomy distinct from the binomial system forwarded by Linnaeus. ...

in 1763 is

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

. Combining the genera ''Rhaponticum'' and ''Leuzea'' under the latter name was first suggested by

Josef Holub Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura and is the only company in Japan spec ...

in 1973. A 2006

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

study confirmed that as then

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

the genus ''Leuzea'' was embedded within ''Rhaponticum''. , the Global Composite Database considers all four ''Rhaponticum'' names as synonyms of the genus ''Leuzea''.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Rhaponticum'': *'' Rhaponticum acaule'' *''

Rhaponticum altaicum ''Rhaponticum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae. , it is accepted by Plants of the World Online, but rejected by the Global Compositae Database in favour of ''Leuzea''. Taxonomy The taxonomi ...

'' *'' Rhaponticum annae-bentiae'' *'' Rhaponticum aulieatense'' *'' Rhaponticum australe'' *'' Rhaponticum berardioides'' *'' Rhaponticum canariense'' *''

Rhaponticum carthamoides ''Rhaponticum carthamoides'', synonym ''Leuzea carthamoides'', is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is known as maral root or rhaponticum. It inhabits the sub-alpine zone ( above sea level) as well as alpine mea ...

Rhaponticum scariosum ''Rhaponticum scariosum'', common name giant scabiosa, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant of the genus ''Rhaponticum'' of the family Asteraceae. Description The biological form of ''Rhaponticum scariosum'' is ''Raunkiær plant life-form#H ...

'' – giant scabiosa *''Rhaponticum uniflorum''

References

{{Authority control Asteraceae genera Cardueae