''Moriera'' is a

monotypic 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 "unisp ...

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 belonging to the family

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

. It only contains one known species, ''Moriera spinosa'' Boiss. Its native range is Central Asia and it is found in the countries of Afghanistan, Iran and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

. The genus name of ''Moriera'' is in honour of

James Justinian Morier James Justinian Morier (15 August 1782 – 19 March 1849) was a British diplomat and author noted for his novels about the Qajar dynasty in Iran, most famously for the ''Hajji Baba'' series. Early life Morier was born in Ottoman Smyrna, the ...

(c. 1780 – 1849), a British diplomat and author noted for his novels about the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, most famously for the Hajji Baba series. 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 ''spinosa'' is derived from ''spina'' meaning spiny. The genus was first described and published in Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., série 2 Vol.16 on page 380 in 1841, and then the species, ''Moriera spinosa'' was first described and published in Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., sér.2, vol.17 on page 182 in 1842.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q5645185, from2=Q15546986 Brassicaceae Monotypic Brassicaceae genera Plants described in 1841 Flora of Afghanistan Flora of Iran Flora of Turkmenistan