{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the mallow family}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Plagianthus divaricatus.jpg |image_caption = ''Plagianthus divaricatus'', illustration with analysis by William Jackson Hooker |display_parents = 2 |taxon = Plagianthus |authority = J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.<ref name=ForsFors76/> |synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO"/> |synonyms = * ''Blepharanthemum'' <small>Klotzsch</small> * ''Philippodendron'' <small>Endl.</small> * ''Philippodendrum'' <small>Poit.</small> * ''Wrenciala'' <small>A.Gray</small> |type_species = ''Plagianthus divaricatus'' |type_species_authority = J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.<ref name=ForsFors76/> |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = * ''Plagianthus × cymosus'' {{small|Kirk}} * ''Plagianthus divaricatus'' {{small|J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.}} * ''Plagianthus regius'' {{small|(Poit.) Hochr.}} |subdivision_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=''Plagianthus'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:26029-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=4 November 2025}}</ref> }}

'''''Plagianthus''''' is a genus of flowering plants confined to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. The familial placement of the genus was controversial for many years, but modern genetic studies show it definitely belongs in the Malvaceae subfamily Malvoideae.<ref name=TateEtAl /> The name means "slanted flowers".<ref name=ForsFors76 />

==Description==

The type species ''P.&nbsp;divaricatus'' is a divaricate shrub which grows at the edges of salt marshes. The other species, ''P.&nbsp;regius'' is a tree which in juvenile stage may be divaricate (subsp. ''regius'') or not (subsp. ''chathamica''). ''Plagianthus × cymosus'' is a naturally-occurring hybrid of the two species found in the Chatham and North and South Islands.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Plagianthus'' × ''cymosus'' Kirk |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:563236-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=4 November 2025}}</ref>

These are the only species recognized currently. In the past, species from related genera such as ''Hoheria'' (New Zealand), ''Asterotrichion'', ''Lawrencia'' and ''Gynatrix'' (Australia) were sometimes assigned to the genus. Instead, all these genera are now grouped in an informal "''Plagianthus'' alliance".<ref name=KubitzkiBayer />

==References== {{Reflist|31em|refs=

<ref name=ForsFors76> {{Cite book |author1=Johann Reinhold Forster |author2=Georg Forster |name-list-style=amp | publisher= B. White, T. Cadell, and P. Elmsly | year= 1776 | location= London | title= Characteres generum plantarum, quas in itinere ad insulas maris Australis: collegerunt, descripserunt, delinearunt, annis 1772-1775|title-link=Characteres generum plantarum | chapter= plate 43 | chapter-url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/23365#page/213/mode/1up }} </ref>

<ref name=KubitzkiBayer> {{Cite book |last1=Kubitzki | first1= Klaus | last2=Bayer |first2 = Clemens |name-list-style=amp | publisher= Springer-Verlag | year= 2003 | location= Berlin | title= Flowering Plants, Dicotyledons: Malvales, Capparales and non-betalain Caryophyllales | page= 305 | series= The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants | volume= V | isbn= 978-3-642-07680-0}} </ref>

<ref name="POWO"> {{Cite web |title=''Plagianthus'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:26029-1 |access-date=2020-06-05 |website=Plants of the World Online }} </ref>

<ref name=TateEtAl> {{Cite journal|author=Tate, J. A., J. F. Aguilar, S. J. Wagstaff, J. C. La Duke, T. A. Bodo Slotta and B. B. Simpson|year= 2005|title= Phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Malveae (Malvaceae, subfamily Malvoideae) as inferred from ITS sequence data|journal= American Journal of Botany|volume= 92|pages= 584–602|doi=10.3732/ajb.92.4.584|issue=4|pmid=21652437|url=https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/24879/1/2005_Fuertes_AmeJouBot_92_584-602.pdf|doi-access=free}} </ref> }}

== External links == :* [https://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Plagianthus/Plagianthus.php Malvaceae website, ''Plagianthus'' page]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q9060360}}

Category:Malvoideae Category:Malvaceae genera Category:Endemic flora of New Zealand Category:Taxa named by Georg Forster Category:Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster