''Maxwellia lepidota'' is a species of shrubs or trees in the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and the only species of the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Maxwellia''. Its closest relatives are all Australian genera in tribe Lasiopetaleae: ''

Guichenotia ''Guichenotia'' is a genus of about 16 species of flowering plants that are endemic to the south west of Western Australia. The genus was first formally described in 1821 by Jaques Étienne Gay in '' Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle'' ...

'', ''

Hannafordia ''Hannafordia '' is a genus of flowering plants native to Australia Species include: *''Hannafordia bissillii'' F.Muell. – Grey Felt-bush or ''Tjirin-tjirinpa'' (Ngaanyatjarra language) *''Hannafordia quadrivalvis'' F.Muell. *''Hanna ...

'', ''

Lysiosepalum ''Lysiosepalum'' is a genus of plants in the family Malvaceae, endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. Species The following is a list of names of ''Lysiosepalum'' species accepted by the Australian Plant Census The Australian Pl ...

'', ''

Lasiopetalum ''Lasiopetalum'', commonly known as velvet bushes, is a genus of about forty-five species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae, all endemic to Australia. Description Most species of ''Lasiopetalum'' are spreading or prostrate, many ...

'' and ''

Thomasia ''Thomasia'' is a genus of thirty-one species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae. Plants in this genus are small shrubs that are endemic to the south-west of Western Australia, apart from '' T. petalocalyx'' that is native to Victori ...

''. The genus name of ''Maxwellia'' is in honour of

Maxwell T. Masters Maxwell Tylden Masters Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (15 April 1833 – 30 May 1907) was an English botanist and taxonomist. He was the son of William Masters (botanist), William Masters, the nurseryman and botanist of Canterbury and autho ...

(1833–1907), an English botanist and

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

. 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 ''lepidota'' refers to the Greek word ''lepidotus' meaning scaly. Both genus and species were first described and published in Adansonia Vol.10 on page 100 in 1871.

References

Byttnerioideae Malvales genera Plants described in 1845 Endemic flora of New Caledonia Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon {{Byttnerioideae-stub