''Benjaminia'' is a monotypic genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s belonging to the family

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

. It only contains one known species, ''Benjaminia reflexa'' . Its native range is parts of Central and Tropical America, and is found in Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico Gulf, southeastern Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. It is an aquatic species from freshwater marshes, and coastal lagoons and freshwater lagoons. The genus name of ''Benjaminia'' is in honour of

Ludwig Benjamin Ludwig Benjamin (1825–1848) was a German botanist who contributed to Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius' ''Flora Brasiliensis''. The genus '' Benjaminia'' (in the Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family ...

(1825–48) was a German botanist who contributed to Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius' ''Flora Brasiliensis''. The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

of ''reflexa'' is derived from ''reflecto'' meaning "bent backwards" or "reflexed". The genus was first described and published in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Bras. Vol.10 on page 255 in 1847. The species was then published in Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. Vol.66 on page 194 in 1979. The genus is recognized by the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

and the

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

, but they do not list any known species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q9654519, from2=Q15348460 Plantaginaceae Plants described in 1846 Flora of Veracruz Flora of Southeastern Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of the Caribbean Flora of northern South America Flora of Colombia Flora of Brazil Flora without expected TNC conservation status