''Lavrania'' is a monospecific

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 ...

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

s in family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

. Its only species is ''Lavrania haagnerae'',

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 ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is rocky areas.

Taxonomy

The genus and species were first described in 1986. Phylogenetic studies have shown the genus to be monophyletic, and most closely related to the stapeliad genus ''

Hoodia ''Hoodia'' (; known locally as "ghaap" or "bobbejaanghaap") is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, under the subfamily Asclepiadoideae, native to Southern Africa. One species of ''Hoodia'' in particular, '' Hoodia gordonii'' ...

''. Marginally more distantly related is a sister branch of related genera including ''

Larryleachia ''Larryleachia'' is a genus of stapeliad succulent flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. ;Species * ''Larryleachia cactiformis'' (Hooker) Plowes * ''Larryleachia marlothii'' (N.E. Brown) Plowes * ''Larryleachia perlata'' (Dinter) Plowes ...

'', '' Richtersveldia'' and ''

Notechidnopsis ''Notechidnopsis'' is a group of plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1985. It contains only one recognized species, ''Notechidnopsis tessellata'', native to Cape Province in South Africa. ;formerly included moved to '' ...

''.

References

Asclepiadoideae Monotypic Apocynaceae genera Flora of Namibia Namaqualand Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Apocynaceae-stub