''Nahuatlea'' 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 sunflower family,

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. It includes seven species which range from southern

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

to southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The species which constitute genus ''Nahuatlea'' were originally placed in genus ''

Gochnatia ''Gochnatia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is named for botanist Frédéric Karl Gochnat. The genus contains mainly shrubs and subshrubs, with a few trees and herbs. All of the species are native to the Ame ...

''. It was later discovered that ''Gochnatia'' was not

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 ...

, and included a number of distinct

clades In biology, a clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy ...

. In 2017

Vicki Funk Vicki Ann Funk (November 26, 1947 – October 22, 2019) was an American botanist and curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, known for her work on members of the composite family (Asteraceae) including collecting plants ...

combined Mexican species of ''Gochnatia'' into a new genus ''Nahuatlea''. Funk concluded that the genus is a sister to the Caribbean genus ''

Anastraphia ''Anastraphia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.Tellería, M. C., et al. (2013)Pollen morphology and its taxonomic significance in the tribe Gochnatieae (Compositae, Gochnatioideae).''Plant Systematics and Evolution'' 299 ...

'', and their common ancestor originated from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

in a dispersal event, evidenced by the fact that the Mexican ''Gochnatia'' (now ''Nahuatlea'') are more morphologically similar to the

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

members of ''Gochnatia'' than to ''Anastraphia''.

Species

Seven species are accepted. *'' Nahuatlea arborescens'' *'' Nahuatlea hiriartiana'' *'' Nahuatlea hypoleuca'' *'' Nahuatlea magna'' *'' Nahuatlea obtusata'' *'' Nahuatlea purpusii'' *'' Nahuatlea smithii''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q48392092 Gochnatioideae Asteraceae genera Flora of Northern America