| Andrachne | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Phyllanthaceae |
| Tribe: | Poranthereae |
| Genus: | Andrachne L. |
| Type species | |
| Andrachne telephioides L. |
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| Species | |
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Andrachne is a genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is one of eight genera in the tribe Poranthereae. [1] Andrachne comprises 22 species. They are monoecious herbs or subshrubs, native to semideserts and desert margins of the Americas, southern Europe, North Africa, and South Asia. [1] The genus Andrachne was established by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753. [2] Linnaeus took the name from Theophrastus, but it is not clear what plant Theophrastus used the name for. [3]
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The circumscription of the genus has varied since it was first established by Linnaeus. It was last revised by Vorontsova and Hoffmann in 2008. [1] They recognized 22 species and divided Andrachne into two subgenera. Andrachne subgenus Phyllanthidea contains six species and its type species is Andrachne microphylla. Andrachne subgenus Andrachne contains 16 species and its type species is that of the genus, Andrachne telephioides. [4] Vorontsova and Hoffmann segregated Pseudophyllanthus ovalis, Phyllanthopsis phyllanthoides, and Phyllanthopsis arida from Andrachne where many authors had placed them.
The names Eraclissa [5] and Telephioides [6] have been used for one or more species of Andrachne. Both of these names have been obsolete for many years.