''Samolus'' (known as brookweed, or water pimpernel) is a widely distributed
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of about a dozen
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of water-loving herbs and amphibious
flowering plants
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
. According to the
APG III
The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...
system of classification, the genus falls within the
primrose family,
Primulaceae
The Primulaceae ( ), commonly known as the primrose family (but not related to the Onagraceae, evening primrose family), are a family (biology), family of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous and woody flowering plants including some favourite garden pla ...
, under the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
containing the rhododendroid
eudicots
The eudicots or eudicotyledons are flowering plants that have two seed leaves (cotyledons) upon germination. The term derives from ''dicotyledon'' (etymologically, ''eu'' = true; ''di'' = two; ''cotyledon'' = seed leaf). Historically, authors h ...
,
Ericales
The Ericales are a large and diverse order of flowering plants in the asterid group of the eudicots. Well-known and economically important members of this order include tea and ornamental camellias, persimmon, ebony, blueberry, cranberry, l ...
. It was considered closely related to a
clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
comprising the
Theophrastaceae, and was likewise treated as part of that family (or its own monogeneric family, the Samolaceae). The APG III system does not recognize these families, instead classifying all former Theophrastaceae genera within the family Primulaceae.
Species
The last complete taxonomic treatment of this genus recognizes the following species:
Although some local floras recognize the North-American populations of ''S. valerandi'' as a separate species (''S. parviflorus'') or subspecies (''S. valerandi'' ssp. ''parviflorus''), molecular and morphological data indicate that ''S. vagans'' and ''S. parviflorus'' should not be regarded as separate species but as part of a widespread "''S. valerandi'' species complex.
References
Bibliography
*
Primulaceae genera
{{Primulaceae-stub