''Lourtella'' 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
Lythraceae
Lythraceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, including 32 genus, genera, with about 620 species of Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, and trees. The larger genera include ''Cuphea'' (275 spp.), ''Lagerstroemia'' (56), ''Nesaea (pl ...
. The only species is ''Lourtella resinosa'' .
It is native to Peru and Bolivia.
The genus name of ''Lourtella'' is in honour of
Alicia Lourteig
Alicia Lourteig (1913–2003) was an Argentine and French botanist, world specialist in Oxalidaceae.
Personal life and education
Alicia Lourteig was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her parents originated from France and Argentina. She studied p ...
(1913–2003), an Argentine and French botanist, who was a world specialist in
Oxalidaceae
The Oxalidaceae, or wood sorrel family, are a small family of five genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees, with the great majority of the 570 species in the genus ''Oxalis'' (wood sorrels). Members of this family typically have divid ...
plants. 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 ''resinosa'' refers to resinous, from ''resina''.
Both genus and species were first described and published in Syst. Bot. Vol.12 on pages 519-520 in 1987.
Lourtella is allied to a botanical cluster of four other genera:
Adenaria,
Koehneria,
Pehria, and
Woodfordia
''Woodfordia'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Lythraceae
Lythraceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, including 32 genus, genera, with about 620 species of Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, and trees. The larger ...
.
It is unique within this cluster because it has secretory ducts, which help identify it.
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q9024478, from2=Q15531178
Lythraceae
Lythraceae genera
Monotypic Myrtales genera
Plants described in 1987
Flora of Peru
Flora of Bolivia