Blepharis is a genus of plant in family Acanthaceae. It contains around 128 species found in seasonally dry to arid habitats from Africa through Arabia to Southeast Asia. In section Acanthodium, there are 13–15 species that use the carbon fixation pathway. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that this pathway evolved up to three times independently in the genus over the last five million years.[1]
The genus is named after the Greek word βλεφαριϛ, which means eyelash.
128 species are accepted.