''Orectanthe'' is a 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, in the family

Xyridaceae The Xyridaceae are a family of flowering plants. This family has been recognized by many taxonomists and is known as the yellow-eyed grass family. The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system of 1998), also recognizes this family, ...

, first described as a genus in 1958. It is native to the

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran S ...

of northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

(

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, and northwestern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

). It is closely related to ''

Abolboda ''Abolboda'' is a genus of flowering plants, traditionally and nowadays (Kubitzki system and APG IV) assigned to family Xyridaceae. It is native to South America and to the island of Trinidad, generally on marshy savanna A savanna or savann ...

'', and both known species were originally classified as members of ''

'' before being transferred to ''Orectanthe''.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela. ; Species * '' Orectanthe ptaritepuiana'' (Steyerm.) Maguire - Venezuela, Guyana, northwestern Brazil * '' Orectanthe sceptrum'' (Oliv.) Maguire - Venezuela, Guyana, northwestern Brazil

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q146903 Xyridaceae Poales genera Flora of the Tepuis