Plectocephalus Explained

Plectocephalus is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae, it contains seven described species mostly found in Americas and one in Africa.^{[1] [2]}

Species^{[3] [4]}

• Plectocephalus americanus (Nutt.) D.Don - Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León), United States (AZ NM TX LA AR MS KS MO IL WI SC NY)
• Plectocephalus cachinalensis (Phil.) N.Garcia & Susanna - Atacama Region in Chile
• Plectocephalus chilensis G.Don ex Loudon - Chile
• Plectocephalus floccosus (Hook. & Arn.) N.Garcia & Susanna - Chile (Coquimbo + Valparaíso)
• Plectocephalus rothrockii (Greenm.) D.J.N.Hind - Mexico (from Chihuahua to Chiapas), United States (AZ NM)
• Plectocephalus tweediei (Hook. & Arn.) N.Garcia & Susanna - Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul), Paraguay (Guairá), Uruguay, Argentina (Buenos Aires, Chaco, Misiones, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa)
• Plectocephalus varians (A.Rich.) - Ethiopia

Formerly included^[3] Plectocephalus dracaenoides (Johow) F.H.Hellw. - Centaurodendron dracaenoides Johow

Notes and References

1. Don, David in Sweet, Robert. 1830. British flower garden: containing coloured figures & descriptions of the most ornamental & curious hardy herbaceous plants vol 4 in some copies, vol 2(1) in others, plate 51 in either version
2. http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=30419925-2&back_page=%2Fipni%2FeditAdvPlantNameSearch.do%3Ffind_infragenus%3D%26find_geoUnit%3D%26find_includePublicationAuthors%3Dtrue%26find_addedSince%3D%26find_family%3D%26find_genus%3DPlectocephalus%26find_infrafamily%3D%26find_rankToReturn%3Dgen%26find_publicationTitle%3D%26find_authorAbbrev%3D%26find_infraspecies%3D%26find_includeBasionymAuthors%3Dtrue%26find_modifiedSince%3D%26find_species%3D%26output_format%3Dnormal The International Plant Names Index
3. http://dixon.iplantcollaborative.org/CompositaeWeb/Default.aspx?Page=NameSearch&searchText=Plectocephalus&searchField=NameFull Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist
4. http://bonap.net/NAPA/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Plectocephalus Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps