''Anisacanthus'' 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 bear's breeches family,

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...

. The generic name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words ανισος (''anisos''), meaning "unequal," and ακανθος (''acanthos''), meaning "thorn." Members of the genus are native to

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

regions of the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. They are commonly known as desert honeysuckles, though this term is shared with the genus '' Ancistranthus'', and is something of a misnomer as true honeysuckles (genus ''

Lonicera Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely known species include ...

'') belong to the family

Caprifoliaceae The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species in 33 to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and easte ...

. ''Anisacanthus'' species are sometimes cultivated for use in

xeriscaping Xeriscaping is the process of Garden design, landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acce ...

Species

11 species are accepted. * '' Anisacanthus andersonii'' T.F.Daniel – Big desert honeysuckle, limita * '' Anisacanthus brasiliensis''

Lindau Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...

* '' Anisacanthus grace-woodiae'' Hammel & McDade, sp. nov.10 New Plant Species Discovered by Garden Scientists in 2019
/ref> * '' Anisacanthus linearis'' (S.H.Hagen) Henrickson & E.J.Lott – Narrowleaf desert honeysuckle, dwarf anisacanthus * '' Anisacanthus nicaraguensis'' L.H. Durkee * '' Anisacanthus puberulus'' (

Torr. John Torrey (August 15, 1796 – March 10, 1873) was an American botanist, chemist, and physician. Throughout much of his career, he was a teacher of chemistry, often at multiple universities, while he also pursued botanical work, focusing on t ...

) Henrickson & E.J.Lott – Dwarf desert honeysuckle, pinky anisacanthus * '' Anisacanthus pumilus''

Nees Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. ...

* ''

Anisacanthus quadrifidus ''Anisacanthus quadrifidus'' is a species of flowering plant native to West Texas, west and South Texas, south-Central Texas, central Texas in the United States and adjacent Northern Mexico, northern Mexico down through the state of Oaxaca. It is ...

'' (

Vahl Vahl is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Christian-Friedrich Vahl (born 1955), German cardiac surgeon * Emanuel Vahl (born 1938), Ukrainian-Israeli composer *Herbert-Ernst Vahl, German SS general *Jens Vahl (1796–1854), Danis ...

)

– Wright's desert honeysuckle, flame anisacanthus * '' Anisacanthus tetracaulis''

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikt:Λέων#Greek, Λ ...

* '' Anisacanthus thurberi'' (

) A.Gray – Thurber's desert honeysuckle * '' Anisacanthus tulensis''

Greenm. Jesse More Greenman (December 27, 1867 – January 20, 1951) was an American botanist. He specialized in tropical flora, with emphasis on plants from Mexico and Central America. He was an authority on the genus ''Senecio'' and noted for his work ...

References

External links

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae genera Flora of the Americas Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck {{Acanthaceae-stub