| Prochnyanthes | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Agavoideae |
| Genus: | Prochnyanthes S.Watson |
| Species: | P. mexicana |
| Binomial name | |
| Prochnyanthes mexicana | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Prochnyanthes is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae. It includes a single species, Prochnyanthes mexicana, a tuberous geophyte native to northeastern and southwestern Mexico. [1]
Prochnyanthes and close relatives have long presented significant taxonomic difficulty. With the advent of DNA sequencing, new karyologic and evolutionary phylogenetic studies showed that Prochnyanthes, along with Manfreda and Polianthes , were genetically nested within the traditional circumscription of Agave , rendering that genus paraphyletic. [2] Early in the 21st century, these new phylogenetic results led to a reclassification of to include Prochnyanthes, Manfreda and Polianthes together as Agave subgenus Manfreda. [2]
There was reaction against the changes from those who noted that the large morphological differences between the genera in this new Agave s.l. making them "counter-intuitive from a horticultural point of view". [3] Thus, based on a wider consideration of previously established genetic, morphological, and estimated genetic divergence times, Vázquez-García et al. proposed a narrower circumscription of Agave, [4] [5] paving the way for a reconsideration of Prochnyanthes as a genus. [4] [5]