{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Flickr - João de Deus Medeiros - Paepalanthus giganteus.jpg |image_caption = ''Paepalanthus chiquitensis'' |taxon = Paepalanthus |authority = Mart. |range_map = |range_map_caption = |synonyms = *''Actinocephalus'' {{small|(Körn.) Sano}} *''Blastocaulon'' <small>Ruhland</small> *''Cladocaulon'' <small>Gardner</small> *''Cora'' {{small|Andrino & Sano (2023)}}, non ''Cora'' {{small|Fr. (1825)}}, fungal genus *''Coracoralina'' {{small|Andrino & Sano}} *''Cryptanthella'' <small>(Suess.) Andrino</small>, ''non Cryptanthela'' {{small|Gagnep.}} *''Dupatya'' <small>Vell.</small> *''Floralia'' {{small|Andrino & F.N.Costa}} *''Giuliettia'' {{small|Andrino & Sano}} *''Gnomus'' {{small|Andrino & Sano}} *''Hydriade'' {{small|Andrino}} *''Hyphydra'' {{small|Schreb.}} *''Lachnocaulon'' {{small|Kunth}} *''Moldenkeanthus'' <small>Morat</small> *''Nisius'' {{small|Andrino}} *''Paepalanthus'' {{small|Kunth (1841), nom. illeg. homonym. post.}} *''Tonina'' {{small|Aubl., nom. rej.}} |synonyms_ref = <ref name=powo>{{cite web |title='' Paepalanthus'' Mart. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30001176-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=10 April 2026}}</ref> }}
'''''Paepalanthus''''' is a genus of plants in the family Eriocaulaceae. It includes 451 species native to the Americas (southeastern United States, southern Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and tropical South America), west and central tropical Africa, and Madagascar.<ref name = powo/>
Plants of the World Online currently accepts 451 species.<ref name = powo/> In 2023 Caroline Oliveira Andrino ''et al.'' published the most extensive molecular and morphological analysis of the genus to date, along with the broadest sampling of inflorescences in the family. They concluded the genus as then circumscribed was polyphyletic, and proposed six new genera (''Coracoralina, Floralia, Giuliettia, Gnomus, Hydriade'', and ''Nisius''), redefining two subgenera as genera (''Cryptanthella'' and ''Monosperma''), reestablishing ''Actinocephalus, Lachnocaulon'', and ''Tonina'', and recircumscribing ''Paepalanthus'' as a monophyletic genus with 257 species which is largely restricted to the campos rupestres of the Espinhaço Range and adjacent mountains, with few species in the Serra da Mantiqueira complex, restingas of the coast of Brazil, with a disjunct distribution (''Paepalanthus'' subg. ''Platycaulon'') in the Andean paramo.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Andrino |first1=Caroline Oliveira |last2=Costa |first2=Fabiane Nepomuceno |last3=Simon |first3=Marcelo Fragomeni |last4=Missagia |first4=Rafaela Velloso |last5=Sano |first5=Paulo Takeo |date=2023 |title=Eriocaulaceae: A new classification system based on morphological evolution and molecular evidence |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.12915 |journal=Taxon |language=en |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=515–549 |doi=10.1002/tax.12915 |s2cid=258195228 |issn=0040-0262|url-access=subscription }}</ref> As of April 2026 Plants of the World Online accepts only ''Monosperma'' and treats the other proposed genera as synonyms of ''Paepalanthus''.<ref name = powo/>
==Selected species== 451 species are accepted.<ref name = powo/> Selected species include: *''Paepalanthus bosseri'' {{Au|(Morat) Stützel}} *''Paepalanthus bromelioides'' {{Au|Silveira}} *''Paepalanthus celsus'' {{Au|Tissot-Sq.}} *''Paepalanthus ensifolius'' {{Au|(Kunth) Kunth}} *''Paepalanthus fluviatilis'' {{small|(Aubl.) Christenh. & Byng}} *''Paepalanthus intermedius'' {{small|Körn.}} *''Paepalanthus itremensis'' {{Au|(Morat) Stützel}} *''Paepalanthus moaensis'' {{Au|Gonz.Géigel}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-42960835|title=Winning photos from the International Garden Photographer of the Year 2018, overall winner ''Cerrado Sunrise'', a landscape of ''Paepalanthus chiquitensis'' in the Cerrado, Brazil|website=BBC News|date=9 February 2018|author=Marcio Cabral|access-date=9 February 2018}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2539207}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Eriocaulaceae Category:Poales genera Category:Plants described in 1834 Category:Taxa named by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius
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