Lelya is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Rubiaceae.[1] It only contains one known species, Lelya osteocarpa Bremek. [2]

Lelya
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Lelya
Bremek.
Synonyms
  • Lelya prostrata W.H.Lewis
  • Lelya prostrata var. elongata Verdc.
  • Spermacoce prostrata R.D.Good

Its native range is Tropical Africa. It is found in Angola, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zaïre.[2]

The genus name of Lelya is in honour of Hugh Vandervaes Lely (1891–1947), an English botanist and forester in Nigeria.[3] The Latin specific epithet of osteocarpa is derived from 2 words, osteo from the Greek word meaning bone and also carpa is derived from carpus meaning fruit.[4] Both genus and species were first described and published in Verh. Kon. Ned. Akad. Wetensch., Afd. Natuurk., Sect. 2, Vol.48 (Issue 2) on page 181 in 1952.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Lelya Bremek. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Lelya osteocarpa Bremek. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  3. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2018). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition [Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5. S2CID 187926901. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  4. ^ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 978-1845337315.