''Picris'' (oxtongues) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...

described as a genus by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

in 1753. ''Picris'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...

e of some Lepidoptera species, such as the

grass moth The Crambidae are the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies inclu ...

Diasemia reticularis ''Diasemia reticularis'' is a species of moth of the family Crambidae. It is typically found in the tropics, but may range into Europe as far north as the North Sea region because of its migratory nature. The wingspan is 18–22 mm. The ad ...

''. '' Schinia cardui'' feeds exclusively on '' P. hieracioides''. The genus is widespread across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and Australia.

Description

Erect annual to perennial taprooted herbs, mostly branching, stem and leaves bearing stiff bristly hairs, with rather large, usually

corymbose Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

paniculate A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle ar ...

heads of yellow flowers.

Taxonomy

Taxonomic history

The genus ''Picris'' was first validly described by

in 1753 with the genus being accepted by a number of secondary sources including

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants ...

. Linnaeus initially described four species with ''P. hieracioides'', ''P. echioides'', ''P. pyrenaica'' and ''P. asplenioides''. In 1913, Britton and Brown proposed ''P. asplenioides'' as the type species for the genus. Subsequently, in 1930, Hitchcock and Green alternatively proposed ''P. hieracioides'' as the type species. The Hitchcock and Green proposal was adopted by

Lack Lack may refer to: Places * Lack, County Fermanagh, a townland in Northern Ireland * Lack, Poland * Łąck, Poland * Lack Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, US Other uses * Lack (surname) * Lack (manque), a term in Lacan's psychoanalyti ...

in 1975 and accepted by Jarvis in 1992. Lack argued that Linnaeus never saw ''P. asplenioides'' which Linnaeus regarded as an obscure species and no specimen could be found in the Linnean Herbarium. For this reason Lack concluded that ''P. hieracioides'' should be designated as the type species. In 1794, the German botanist

Conrad Moench Conrad Moench (sometimes written Konrad Mönch; 15 August 1744 – 6 January 1805) was a German botanist, professor of botany at Marburg University from 1786 until his death. He wrote 'Methodus Plantas horti botanici et agri Marburgensis' in 17 ...

described the genus ''Medicusia'' and the species ''M. aspera''. This genus has not been accepted and is considered a synonym of ''Picris''. ''M. aspera'' has also been determined to be a synonym of ''P. rhagadioloides''.

Etymology

''Picris'' is from the Greek meaning 'bitter', in reference to the bitter taste of some species in the genus.

Species

; SpeciesThe Plant List search for ''Picris''
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q217621 Cichorieae Asteraceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus