''Benitoa'' 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

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

. ''Benitoa'' is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, containing the single species ''Benitoa occidentalis''. It is sometimes included in genus ''

Lessingia ''Lessingia'' is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae which are native to western North America. Several species are endemic to California. ''Lessingias'' are generally daisy-like in appearance with white, yellow, or purple flowers, but th ...

'' as the

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

''Lessingia occidentalis''. Nesom, G. L. (2000)
Generic conspectus of the tribe Astereae (Asteraceae) in North America and Central America, the Antilles, and Hawaii
Botanical Research Institute of Texas. pg 20. ''Benitoa'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it is known mostly from San Benito County, the region for which it is named. Additional populations have been found in nearby parts of Fresno and Monterey Counties.Flora of North America: genus ''Benitoa''
/ref>

References

External links

Jepson eFlora treatment of ''Benitoa occidentalis''United States Department of Agriculture Plants ProfileCalPhotos Photo Gallery, University of California
Astereae Monotypic Asteraceae genera Endemic flora of California {{Astereae-stub