Allenanthus was a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the Rubiaceae

Rubiaceae

The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 but is no longer recognized. It has been sunk into synonymy

Synonym (taxonomy)

In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...

 with Machaonia

Machaonia

Machaonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has about 32 species. All are indigenous to the neotropics. None has a unique common name. Some species have been called "alfilerillo", a Spanish name for the common and well-known genus Erodium...

.

Taxonomy

Allenanthus was named

Botanical name

A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...

 by Paul Standley

Paul Carpenter Standley

Paul Carpenter Standley was an American botanist.Standley was born in Avalon, Missouri...

 in 1940 in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden

Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden

Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden is a long-established major peer-reviewed journal of botany, established in 1914 by the Missouri Botanical Garden, under the directorship of botanist and phycologist, George Thomas Moore, and still published quarterly by the Missouri Botanical Garden Press. ...

. It was named in honor of Paul Hamilton Allen (1911-1963).

Until 2004, two species had been recognized, but fieldwork has shown that there is a continuum

Continuum (theory)

Continuum theories or models explain variation as involving a gradual quantitative transition without abrupt changes or discontinuities. It can be contrasted with 'categorical' models which propose qualitatively different states.-In physics:...

 of variation

Genetic diversity

Genetic diversity, the level of biodiversity, refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It is distinguished from genetic variability, which describes the tendency of genetic characteristics to vary....

 between them.

Comparisons of morphological

Plant morphology

Plant morphology or phytomorphology is the study of the physical form and external structure of plants. This is usually considered distinct from plant anatomy, which is the study of the internal structure of plants, especially at the microscopic level...

 characters and DNA sequence

DNA sequence

The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...

s have shown that Allenanthus is embedded

Paraphyly

A group of taxa is said to be paraphyletic if the group consists of all the descendants of a hypothetical closest common ancestor minus one or more monophyletic groups of descendants...

 in Machaonia

Machaonia

Machaonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has about 32 species. All are indigenous to the neotropics. None has a unique common name. Some species have been called "alfilerillo", a Spanish name for the common and well-known genus Erodium...

. This was confirmed by a molecular phylogenetic study

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 of the subfamily Cinchonoideae in 2010. Because of these results, Allenanthus is no longer maintained as a separate genus.

Species

• Allenanthus erythrocarpus Standl.
  Paul Carpenter Standley
  Paul Carpenter Standley was an American botanist.Standley was born in Avalon, Missouri...
  
  
• Allenanthus hondurensis Standl.
  Paul Carpenter Standley
  Paul Carpenter Standley was an American botanist.Standley was born in Avalon, Missouri...
  
  

External links

• World Checklist of Rubiaceae
• http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do?find_family=&find_genus=Allenanthus+&find_species=&find_infrafamily=&find_infragenus=&find_infraspecies=&find_authorAbbrev=&find_includePublicationAuthors=on&find_includePublicationAuthors=off&find_includeBasionymAuthors=on&find_includeBasionymAuthors=off&find_publicationTitle=&find_isAPNIRecord=on&find_isAPNIRecord=false&find_isGCIRecord=on&find_isGCIRecord=false&find_isIKRecord=on&find_isIKRecord=false&find_rankToReturn=all&output_format=normal&find_sortByFamily=on&find_sortByFamily=off&query_type=by_query&back_page=plantsearchAllenanthus] At: Plant Names At: IPNI
• Allenanthus In: Volume 27 Of: AMBG At: Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Allenanthus At: Index Nominum Genericorum At: References At: NMNH Department of Botany At: Research and Collections At: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
• Allenanthus At: Guettardeae At: Cinchonoideae At: Rubiaceae In: Embryophyta At: Streptophytina At: Streptophyta At: Viridiplantae At: Eukaryota At: Taxonomy At: UniProt