''Picris'' (oxtongues) 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 ...

s in the 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 ...

described as a genus by

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

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species, such as the

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

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 continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Etymology

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

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 In botany, 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 pa ...

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 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 ...

. 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 ...

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''.

Species

'SourceThe Plant List search for ''Picris''
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References

Sources

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