Ortegia

Ortegia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Ortegia
Loefl.
Species:
O. hispanica
Binomial name
Ortegia hispanica
Synonyms[1]
  • Ortegia dichotoma Hartmann
  • Terogia dichotoma (Hartmann) Raf.
View of the plant in its habitat

Ortegia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae.[2] It only contains one known species, Ortegia hispanica.[1] It is part of the tribe Polycarpaeae, clustering with Cardionema and Illecebrum.[3]

Its native range is the western Mediterranean. It is still found in Portugal and Spain.[1][4] It is now classed as extinct in Algeria and Italy.[1]


The genus of Ortegia has 3 known synonyms; Cervaria L., Mosina Adans. and Terogia Raf.[2]

The Latin specific epithet of hispanica is derived from Hispanic (Spanish: Hispano) which refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain. Both the genus and the species were first described and published in C.Linnaeus's book, Sp. Pl. on page 560 in 1753.[2][1]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Ortegia hispanica L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Ortegia Loefl. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  3. ^ Hernández-Ledesma, Patricia; Berendsohn, Walter G.; Borsch, Thomas; Von Mering, Sabine; et al. (2015). "A taxonomic backbone for the global synthesis of species diversity in the angiosperm order Caryophyllales". Willdenowia. 45 (3): 281–383. doi:10.3372/wi.45.45301. S2CID 85656868.
  4. ^ Aedo, Carlos; Medina, Leopoldo; Fernández-Albert, Marta (August 2013). "Species richness and endemicity in the Spanish vascular flora". Nordic Journal of Botany. 31 (4): 478–488. doi:10.1111/j.1756-1051.2012.00009.x.