Potaninia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Rosaceae.[1] It only contains one known species, Potaninia mongolica Maxim.
It is native to Mongolia and Inner Mongolia (in China). The genus name of Potaninia is in honour of Grigory Potanin (1835–1920), a Russian ethnographer and natural historian.[2] The Latin specific epithet of mongolica means "coming from of Mongolia", where the plant was found.[3] Both the genus and the species were first described and published in Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg, séries 3, Vol.27 on page 465 in 1882.[1]