Rhaponticum is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae., it is accepted by Plants of the World Online, but rejected by the Global Compositae Database in favour of Leuzea.
The taxonomic history of the genus name Rhaponticum is complicated. It has been published at least four times according to the International Plant Names Index. The earliest was by Albrecht von Haller in 1742, which is regarded as an invalid name (nom. inval.).[1] The next publication was by Sébastien Vaillant in 1754, also an invalid name.[2] The next was by Christian Gottlieb Ludwig in 1757. This has become a conserved name (nom. cons.), with the conserved type species Centaurea rhapontica (syn. Leuzea rhapontica subsp. rhapontica).[3] A subsequent publication by Michel Adanson in 1763 is illegitimate.[4]
Combining the genera Rhaponticum and Leuzea under the latter name was first suggested by Josef Holub in 1973. A 2006 phylogenetic study confirmed that as then circumscribed the genus Leuzea was embedded within Rhaponticum., the Global Composite Database considers all four Rhaponticum names as synonyms of the genus Leuzea.[5]
The following species are recognised in the genus Rhaponticum: