''Mohavea'' is a plant

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

consisting of two species native to the deserts of the southwestern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. This genus is often included in the closely related snapdragon genus ''

Antirrhinum ''Antirrhinum'' is a genus of plants commonly known as dragon flowers, snapdragons and dog flower because of the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed. They are native to r ...

''.

Taxonomy

Formerly included in the family

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

, the genus is now included in

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 ...

. The two species are both notable annuals flowering in the spring: the lesser mohavea, '' Mohavea breviflora'', has small yellow flowers, while the ghost flower, '' Mohavea confertiflora'', features large pale flowers with a pattern of purple spots.

Etymology

The genus name is derived from the

Mojave River The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, ...

, where specimens were first collected by John C. Fremont.Jepson Manual Treatment
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References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Mohavea''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2707666 Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae genera Flora of the California desert regions Natural history of the Mojave Desert Taxa named by Asa Gray