Conringia is a small genus of herbaceous plants in the mustard family, Brassicaceae, placed in the order Brassicales. Its members are commonly known as hare's ear mustards. The genus is native to western and central Eurasia and North Africa, with individual species ranging from Austria and Italy eastward to the Caucasus, northwestern Iran, Central Asia, and Pakistan, and southward into North Africa. GBIF's backbone taxonomy lists nine accepted species in the genus.
One species, Conringia orientalis, has spread well beyond its native range and is now recognized on multiple continents as a common agricultural weed. Other species have much narrower distributions — Conringia grandiflora, for example, is known only from the Antalya region of Turkey — reflecting the genus's overall pattern of a few widespread taxa alongside several more localized ones across its Eurasian and North African range.
The genus name honors Hermann Conring, a German polymath and philosopher of the 17th century, a naming convention typical of genera erected in his era to commemorate scholars of natural history and related fields.
Etymology
The genus name Conringia commemorates Hermann Conring, a German philosopher.
Distribution
Conringia is native to western and central Eurasia and North Africa. One species, C. orientalis, has become a widespread weed found on many continents outside its native range, while other species such as C. grandiflora remain narrowly restricted (e.g., to the Antalya region of Turkey).
