Anarrhinum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae (order Lamiales), native to the Mediterranean Basin and West Asia, with some species extending north to Germany and south to Ethiopia. The genus was originally described by René Louiche Desfontaines in 1798 under Scrophulariaceae and is closely related to Antirrhinum (snapdragons), from which its name is derived.
Species are biennial or perennial herbs, occasionally somewhat woody at the base, with glabrous, glandular-pubescent, or papillose surfaces. Stems are erect, simple or sparsely branched. The leaves are markedly heteromorphic: basal leaves form a rosette and are dentate, serrate, or crenate with an obovate-spatulate shape, while the upper stem leaves are alternate and typically 3–7-palmatisect with unequal lobes. The inflorescence is a dense terminal raceme or panicle bearing zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical) flowers. Each flower has a deeply divided calyx of five subequal sepals and a two-lipped corolla — the upper lip is bilobed, the lower lip trilobed, and the corolla tube extends basally into a curved spur. Unlike snapdragons, the corolla is not personate (the lower lip does not close the throat). Flower colour varies across species from yellow, cream, and white to blue and violet, often with darker veins. The androecium is didynamous (four stamens in two pairs), with stamens included within the corolla. The fruit is a globose to ellipsoidal capsule that opens by a single apical pore per locule (foraminal dehiscence). Seeds are few, ovoid, and tuberculate.
Eight species are recognised, centred on the Iberian Peninsula and extending across the Mediterranean. Notable species include the widespread A. bellidifolium (daisy-leaved anarrhinum), the glandular-hairy yellow-flowered A. duriminium, the long-pedicelled A. longipedicellatum, and the shrubby spur-less A. fruticosum. Chromosome counts are 2n = 18 for several species.
Etymology
The name Anarrhinum derives from the Greek anárrhinon, combining ana- (upwards, above) and rhís, rhinós (nose, snout). It is linguistically and taxonomically close to Antirrhinum (the snapdragons); Desfontaines, who erected the genus in 1798, probably chose the name to reflect this affinity. The name was conserved (nom. cons.) in botanical nomenclature.
Distribution
Anarrhinum is centred on the Mediterranean Basin, with its highest diversity in the Iberian Peninsula. The genus extends east into West Asia and reaches outlier populations as far north as Germany and as far south as Ethiopia. Species occupy a range of Mediterranean habitats from lowland to montane zones, typically in open, often rocky or disturbed sites.
Taxonomy
The genus was originally described by Desfontaines in Flora Atlantica (1798) under the family Scrophulariaceae, where it was long retained alongside Antirrhinum. Molecular phylogenetic work has since transferred both genera to Plantaginaceae (order Lamiales). The name Anarrhinum Desf. is conserved (nom. cons.) under the International Code of Nomenclature. It is closely related to Antirrhinum but distinguished by its non-personate corolla (no palate closing the throat) and its capsule dehiscing by a single apical pore rather than by valves.
