Phryma
Encyclopedia
Phryma, or lopseed, is a perennial
herb
. The genus is native to eastern North America (roughly, everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains
) and Asia (Japan, Nepal, India and West Pakistan), and consists of either one or two species, depending on whether the American and Asian species are considered separate or not.
The plant stands about 0.3 to 1.0 meters tall, and the inflorescence
s bear a number of small (4 mm) tube-shaped white to pink flowers.
Although it has sometimes been classified in the family Verbenaceae
, 21st century research has placed it in a small family (Phrymaceae
) along with Mimulus
(monkey flowers) and a small number of other genera which had formerly been in the Scrophulariaceae
.
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
. The genus is native to eastern North America (roughly, everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
) and Asia (Japan, Nepal, India and West Pakistan), and consists of either one or two species, depending on whether the American and Asian species are considered separate or not.
The plant stands about 0.3 to 1.0 meters tall, and the inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s bear a number of small (4 mm) tube-shaped white to pink flowers.
Although it has sometimes been classified in the family Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae, commonly known as the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that...
, 21st century research has placed it in a small family (Phrymaceae
Phrymaceae
Phrymaceae , also known as the Lopseed family, is a small plant family in the order Lamiales. It now consists of about 190 species, distributed worldwide but with the majority in western North America and Australia .Previously, this family was monotypic with the genus Phryma, and limited in...
) along with Mimulus
Mimulus
Mimulus is a diverse plant genus, the monkey-flowers and musk-flowers. The about 150 species are currently placed in the family Phrymaceae. The genus has traditionally been placed in Scrophulariaceae. The removal of Mimulus from that family has been supported by studies of chloroplast DNA first...
(monkey flowers) and a small number of other genera which had formerly been in the Scrophulariaceae
Scrophulariaceae
Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family, are a family of flowering plants. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with flowers with bilateral or rarely radial symmetry. Members of the Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including...
.