''Rhinanthus'' is a genus of annual

hemiparasitic A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

herbaceous plant 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 ...

s in the family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', '' Striga'') were formerly included in ...

, formerly classified in the family

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

. Its species are commonly known as rattles. The genus consists of about 30 to 40 species found in Europe, northern Asia, and North America, with the greatest species diversity (28 species) in Europe.

Phylogeny

The phylogeny of the genera of

Rhinantheae Rhinantheae is a tribe with less than 20 genera of herbaceous plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Phylogeny The phylogeny of the genera of Rhinantheae has been explored using DNA markers. Three assemblages can be distinguished in this tribe: * ...

has been explored using molecular characters. ''Rhinanthus'' is the sister genus to ''

Lathraea ''Lathraea'' (toothwort) is a small genus of five to seven species of flowering plants, native to temperate Europe and Asia. They are parasitic plants on the roots of other plants, and are completely lacking chlorophyll. They are classified in th ...

'', and then to ''

Rhynchocorys ''Rhynchocorys'' is a small genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Orobanchaceae, formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae. It is native to Europe, Morocco and Algeria. Etymology The genus name ''Rhynchocorys'' derives fro ...

''. These three genera share phylogenetic affinities with members of the core Rhinantheae: ''

Bartsia ''Bartsia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Bartsia grows in damp places, such as marshes and wet meadows, in several parts of the west of England and Wales and in southwest Scotland. Etymology ''Bartsia'' was name ...

'', ''

Euphrasia ''Euphrasia'', or eyebright, is a genus of about 450 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are semi-parasitic on grasses and other ...

'', ''

Tozzia ''Tozzia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants within the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. It contains a unique species, ''Tozzia alpina''. While the plant in its young, vegetative stage is holoparasite, it becomes hemiparasite in its flow ...

'', ''

Hedbergia ''Hedbergia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants, initially classified in Scrophulariaceae, and now within the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. It contains a unique species, ''Hedbergia abyssinica''. It is an afromontane genus, widespread i ...

'', '' Bellardia'', and ''

Odontites ''Odontites'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Phylogeny The phylogeny of the genera of Rhinantheae has been explored using molecular characters. ''Odontites'' belongs to the core Rhinantheae. It is the sister genus t ...

''. ''

Melampyrum ''Melampyrum'' is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae known commonly as cow wheat. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are hemiparasites on other plants, obtai ...

'' appears as a more distant relative.

Systematics

Selected species

References

External links

Flora Europaea: ''Rhinanthus''Flora of China: ''Rhinanthus''Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Rhinanthus''
Orobanchaceae genera Parasitic plants {{Orobanchaceae-stub