''Lachnostachys'' (common name Lambs tails)
is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
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 mint family,
Lamiaceae
The Lamiaceae ( )
or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...
, first described in 1842 by
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botany, botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew Gardens, Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botan ...
.
The type species is ''Lachnostachys ferruginea''.
[ The genus name, ''Lachnostachys'', comes from two Greek words/roots, ''lachnề'' ("wool") and ''-stachys'' ("relating to a spike"),][Backer, C.A. (1936]
''Verklarend woordenboek der wetenschappelijke namen van de in Nederland en Nederlandsch-Indië in het wild groeiende en in tuinen en parken gekweekte varens en hoogere planten'' pp 951,956 (Edition Nicoline van der Sijs).
(Explanatory dictionary of the scientific names of .. plants grown in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies...) and thus describes the genus as having spiked woolly inflorescences. The entire genus 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 Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
[Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
/ref>
A 2009 study of Chloantheae[pdf]
/ref> indicates that ''Lachnostachys'' is closely related to the genera, ''Newcastelia
''Newcastelia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, first described in 1857 by Ferdinand von Mueller, who placed it in the family, Verbenaceae. The entire genus is endemic to Australia.
;Species
# '' Newcastelia bracteo ...
'' and '' Physopsis'', with none of the three being monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
.
Description
Plants in this genus are shrubs or subshrub growing from 0.3 to 1.5 m high. They have no essential oils. The young stems are cylindrical and are covered in a dense and thick woolly covering of branched woolly intertwined hairs. The leaves are opposite and decussate (i.e., with successive opposite pairs at right angles to the preceding pair). The leaf blades are entire, or recurved along the margins, or sometimes flat. They are pinnately veined. They are woolly both abaxially and adaxially, although mature leaf blades are sometimes rugose (wrinkled) and glabrescent (becoming hairless). The leaves have both simple and complex hairs (which are stellate).[
#'' Lachnostachys albicans'' Hook.
#'' Lachnostachys bracteosa'' C.A.Gardner
#'' Lachnostachys coolgardiensis'' S.Moore
#'' Lachnostachys eriobotrya'' (F.Muell.) Druce
#'' Lachnostachys ferruginea'' Hook.
#'' Lachnostachys verbascifolia'' F.Muell
]
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9019771
Lamiaceae genera
Endemic flora of Western Australia
Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker
Plants described in 1842