''Tecophilaea'' 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 ...

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

ous plants in the family

Tecophilaeaceae Tecophilaeaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. It consists of nine genera with a total of 27 species. The family has only recently been recognized by taxonomists. The APG IV system of 2016 (un ...

. There are two known species, both native to southern

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 ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> ''Tecophilaea'' was named for Tecophila Billotti, botanical artist and daughter of the Italian botanist

Luigi Aloysius Colla Luigi Aloysius Colla (30 April 1766 – 23 December 1848) was an Italian botanist of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. He was a member of the Provisional Government of Savoy from December 12, 1798, to April 2, 1799, taking his turn as chair ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, who found this plant in 1836, credited with publishing the genus name after it had been suggested by

Carlo Luigi Giuseppe Bertero Luigi Carlo Giuseppe Bertero (b. Santa Vittoria d'Alba, October 14, 1789 d. April 1831, – South Pacific Ocean) was an Italian physicist, physician, naturalist, botanist, bryologist and pteridologist. He explored the West Indies between 1816 an ...

. ;Species # ''

Tecophilaea cyanocrocus ''Tecophilaea cyanocrocus'', the Chilean blue crocus, is a flowering plant, flowering perennial plant, perennial plant that is native plant, native to Chile, growing at elevation on dry, stony slopes in the Andes, Andes mountains. Although it ha ...

'' - Santiago Province in Chile # '' Tecophilaea violiflora'' - Lima Province in Peru, Coquimbo + Santiago Provinces in Chile

References

Asparagales genera Flora of South America {{asparagales-stub