Picris, commonly known as oxtongues, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The genus was first described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753, who initially recognised four species: P. hieracioides, P. echioides, P. pyrenaica, and P. asplenioides. The type species, P. hieracioides (hawkweed oxtongue), was formally designated following a proposal by Hitchcock and Green in 1930, later adopted by Lack in 1975 and accepted by Jarvis in 1992.
Members of the genus are erect annual to perennial herbs with a taproot, mostly branching stems, and distinctive stiff bristly hairs covering both stems and leaves. The flower heads are yellow, relatively large, and arranged in corymbose or paniculate inflorescences. The common name "oxtongues" likely alludes to the rough, tongue-like texture of the foliage.
Picris is distributed widely across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The genus has ecological significance as a larval food plant for certain Lepidoptera, including the grass moth Diasemia reticularis and Schinia cardui, a moth that feeds exclusively on P. hieracioides.
The genus name Picris derives from the Greek pikros, meaning "bitter", a reference to the characteristically bitter taste of some species. Earlier synonyms include the genus Medicusia, described by the German botanist Conrad Moench in 1794 but not accepted by subsequent authorities.
Etymology
The genus name Picris derives from the Greek word pikros, meaning "bitter", referring to the bitter taste characteristic of some species in the genus. The common name "oxtongues" alludes to the rough, bristly texture of the leaves.
Distribution
Picris is widespread across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The genus spans a broad range of temperate and subtropical regions, with individual species adapted to open habitats such as roadsides, disturbed ground, and meadows.
Taxonomy Notes
Picris was first validly described by Linnaeus in 1753 with four original species. The type species, Picris hieracioides, was designated by Hitchcock and Green in 1930 and accepted by Jarvis in 1992, superseding an earlier proposal by Britton and Brown (1913) of P. asplenioides. Lack (1975) argued that Linnaeus never examined P. asplenioides and no specimen existed in the Linnean Herbarium. The genus Medicusia, erected by Conrad Moench in 1794, is now treated as a synonym of Picris; its sole species, M. aspera, is synonymised under P. rhagadioloides.
