Tamaulipa is a genus 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 aster family, Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

. The sole species it contains, Tamaulipa azurea, is commonly known as Blue Boneset. The generic name refers the Tamaulipan mezquital

Tamaulipan mezquital

The Tamaulipan mezquital ecoregion, in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, is located in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico...

 of southern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and northeastern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, where this species is endemic. It is a climbing shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 or non-twining vine

Vine

A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...

 that grows to about 2 to 3 m (6.6 to 9.8 ft) and has bluish or blue lavender flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s.

It has medicinal value and can be used in beverages.

Classification

Tamaulipa is in the tribe Eupatorieae

Eupatorieae

Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000 species of plants in the aster family. Most of the species are native to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas of the Americas, but some are found elsewhere...

 of the aster family. Its closest relatives in the tribe are unclear; both Conoclinium

Conoclinium

Conoclinium, the mistflowers, is a genus of four species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants, native to North America. They are tall, and have blue to purple or violet flowers ....

and Chromolaena

Chromolaena

Chromolaena is a genus of about 165 species of perennials and shrubs in the aster family, Asteraceae. The name is derived from the Greek words χρῶμα , meaning "color," and λαινα , meaning "cloak." It refers to the colored phyllaries of some species...

have been proposed.