''Paris'' is a

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 ...

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 described by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1753. It is widespread across Europe and Asia, with a center of diversity in China.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> It consists of less than two dozen

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

plants: the best known species is ''

Paris quadrifolia ''Paris quadrifolia'', the herb Paris or true lover's knot, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It occurs in temperate and cool areas throughout Eurasia, from Spain to Yakutia, and from Iceland to Mongolia. It prefers ...

''. Some ''Paris'' species are used in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

for their

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

and

anticoagulant Anticoagulants, commonly known as blood thinners, are chemical substances that prevent or reduce coagulation of blood, prolonging the clotting time. Some of them occur naturally in blood-eating animals such as leeches and mosquitoes, where the ...

properties, most notably as an ingredient of

Yunnan Baiyao Yunnan Baiyao (or Yunnan Paiyao; ) is a proprietary traditional Chinese medicine marketed and used as a Antihemorrhagic, hemostatic product in both human and veterinary alternative medicine. Although Yunnan Baiyao has long been recognized as a ph ...

. Intense ethnopharmaceutical interest has significantly reduced their numbers. These plants are closely related to ''

Trillium ''Trillium'' (trillium, wakerobin, toadshade, tri flower, birthroot, birthwort, and sometimes "wood lily") is a genus of about fifty flowering plant species in the family Melanthiaceae. ''Trillium'' species are native to temperate regions of No ...

'', with the distinction traditionally being that ''Trillium'' contains species which have trimerous (three-

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

ed) flowers, and ''Paris'' contains species which have 4- to 11-merous flowers. A recent analysis places the genera ''Daiswa'' and ''Kinugasa'' in ''Paris'', though the actual circumscription of the genus is debated.

Etymology

From Latin herba Paris (Herba Paris), Paris herba, from Latin herba and Latin par (“equal”), in reference to the regularity of its leaves, petals, etc. It is neither related to the city

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

nor the

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

Species

The genus consists of the following species:

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q162121 Melanthiaceae Melanthiaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus