''Phryma'' 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 ...

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 ...

in the family

Phrymaceae Phrymaceae, also known as the lopseed family, is a small family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Phrymaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Botanical Databases At: Missouri Botanical Garden Websi ...

, native to temperate Asia and eastern North America.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Phryma'' was erected by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753 with the sole species '' Phryma leptostachya''. The Japanese botanist Gen-ichi Koidzumi proposed separating Asian populations, into ''Phryma oblongifolia'' in 1929 and further into ''Phryma nana'' in 1939. However, these species were generally not accepted, and populations in Asia and North America were usually treated as the single species ''Phryma leptostachya'', being distinguished only at the rank of subspecies and variety. In 2014, it was again proposed to separate Asian and North American populations into full species, ''P. oblongifolia'' and ''P. leptostachya'' respectively. In 2016, Japanese populations were again separated into ''P. oblongifolia'' and ''P. nana''. All three species are accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

, , although other sources may continue to use a single species with only intraspecific divisions. In lieu of the critical examination of Asian populations outside Japan (India, China, Korea, Russia), the application of the names based on Japanese material to continental populations remains unclear; most botanists still consider these populations to represent ''P. leptostachya''. The genus ''Phryma'' has sometimes been classified in the family

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell. T ...

, 21st century research has placed it in the small family

, along with ''

Mimulus Mimulus , also known as monkeyflowers, is a plant genus in the family (biology), family Phrymaceae, which was traditionally placed in family Scrophulariaceae. The genus now contains only seven species, two native to eastern North America and th ...

'' (monkey flowers) and a small number of other genera which had formerly been in the

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

. Page 22.

Species

, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species: *'' Phryma leptostachya'' L. – eastern North America (roughly, everywhere east of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

) *'' Phryma nana'' Koidz. – Japan *'' Phryma oblongifolia'' Koidz. – from temperate Asia (including Japan) south to north Vietnam File:Phryma leptostachya 2, Lopseed, GFG, Howard County, Md, Helen Lowe Metzman 2019-10-23-20.54.52 ZS PMax UDR (49438985786).jpg, ''P. leptostachya'' File:Phryma leptostachya var. asiatica 10.JPG, ''P. nana'' (syn. ''P. leptostachya'' var. ''asiatica'') File:Phryma oblongifolia 60359778.jpg, ''P. oblongifolia''

References

{{taxonbar, from1=Q857944 Phrymaceae Lamiales genera