Oreoxis

Oreoxis
Oreoxis humilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Tribe: Selineae
Genus: Oreoxis
Raf.
Species

Oreoxis, also known as alpine parsley, is a genus of flowering plants in the carrot family. It includes two species native to subalpine regions of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah in the west-central United States.

Taxonomy

Oreoxis was given its scientific name in 1830 by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque with one species, Oreoxis humilis. The second accepted species was scientifically described and named Oreoxis bakeri in 1900 by John Merle Coulter and Joseph Nelson Rose in 1900.

After studying the genus Cymopterus Marcus E. Jones proposed merging Orexis as a section in 1908. However, other botanists such as Mildred E. Mathias retained it as an accepted genus in 1930. The genus was also retained by Stanley Larson Welsh and his coauthors in their book Utah Flora published in 1987. However, Arthur Cronquist and his collaborators on the Intermountain Flora Volume Three, Part A again proposed that it be included in Cymopterus in 1997. Similarly Kenneth D. Heil and his coauthors choose to publish with Oreoxis listed as a synonym in 2013. As of 2025 Oreoxis is considered an accepted genus according to Plants of the World Online and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service plants database.

There are three other species previously placed in the genus:

Names

Oreoxis is known by the common name of alpine parsley and the genus name is also used as common name.

References

Citations

Sources

Books
  • Cronquist, Arthur; Holmgren, Noel H.; Holmgren, Patricia K. (1997). Intermountain Flora : Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A.. Vol. Three, Part A. Subclass Rosidae (except Fabales). New York: New York Botanical Garden. ISBN 978-0-89327-374-3. OCLC 503654484. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  • Duft, Joseph F.; Moseley, Robert K. (1989). Alpine Wildflowers of the Rocky Mountains. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press. ISBN 978-0-87842-238-8. OCLC 19325552. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  • Heil, Kenneth D.; O'Kane, Steve L. Jr.; Reeves, Linda Mary; Clifford, Arnold (2013). Flora of the Four Corners Region: Vascular Plants of the San Juan River Drainage, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah (First ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. ISBN 978-1-930723-84-9. ISSN 0161-1542. LCCN 2012949654. OCLC 859541992. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  • Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry C. (1987). A Utah Flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs, No. 9 (First ed.). Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. JSTOR 23377658. OCLC 9986953694. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
Journals
Web sources