species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
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 ...
in the family
Phrymaceae
Phrymaceae, also known as the lopseed family, is a small family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Phrymaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Botanical Databases At: Missouri Botanical Garden Websi ...
, native to Japan. It was first described by the Japanese botanist
Gen-ichi Koidzumi
was a Japanese botanist, author of several papers and monographs on phytogeography including work on roses and Amygdaloideae (Rosaceae), maples (Aceraceae), mulberries (the genus '' Morus''), and many other plants. His name is sometimes transli ...
in 1939. Its status as a separate species was not usually accepted, and it was treated as a subspecies or variety of ''
Phryma leptostachya
''Phryma leptostachya'', or lopseed, is a perennial herb of the genus ''Phryma''. When distinguished from '' Phryma oblongifolia'' and '' Phryma nana'', it is native to eastern North America.
The plant stands about 0.3 to 1.0 meters tall, and ...
''. In 2016, the distinctiveness of the Japanese ''P. nana'' was again supported, based on both earlier
molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
analysis and morphological analysis. , the species is recognized by
Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...