''Rainiera'' is a monotypic 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 daisy 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 ...

. The single species, ''Rainiera stricta'' , is endemic to the northwestern United States (Oregon and Washington). The genus is part of the tribe

Senecioneae Senecioneae is the largest tribe of the Asteraceae, or the sunflower family, comprising over 150 genera and over 3,500 species. Almost one-third of the species in this tribe are placed in the genus ''Senecio''. Its members exhibit probably the w ...

, and appears to be most closely related to '' Luina'', another genus of northwestern North America, in which it was once placed. ''Rainiera stricta'' is of conservation concern, with a G2G3 ranking from NatureServe, and is considered to be globally imperiled. It is known by the common name false silverback.

Description

''Rainiera stricta'' is an herbaceous perennial with both basal and cauline, alternate, petiolate leaves. It has 30-70 discoid heads arranged in a raceme-like or thyrse-like capitulescence. The disk florets are about 5 per head, and have yellow, sometimes purple-tinged corollas. The cypselae (achenes) are glabrous and have a pappus of white or straw-colored bristles. It is distinguished from ''Luina'' by the having fewer florets per head and a racemiform, rather than corymbiform, capitulescence.

Taxonomy

The genus name of ''Rainiera'' is in honour of Peter Rainier (1741–1808), who was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer who served during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. From 1794 to 1805, he was commander-in-chief of the Navy's

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...

. The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

Edward Lee Greene Edward Lee Greene (August 20, 1843–November 10, 1915) was an American botanist known for his numerous publications including the two-part ''Landmarks of Botanical History'' and the describing of over 4,400 species of plants in the American W ...

in Pittonia vol.3 on page 291 in 1898.

References

Senecioneae Monotypic Asteraceae genera Plants described in 1898 Flora of Oregon Flora of Washington (state) {{Senecioneae-stub