Oligochaeta is a genus of Asian flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae.Koch, Karl Heinrich Emil. 1843. Oligochaeta (DC.) K. Koch 17: 42-43 in LatinCandolle, Augustin Pyramus de. 1838. Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 6: 671 in LatinTropicos, Oligochaeta (DC.) K. Koch
Oligochaeta is native to central, southern, and southwestern Asia. They are annual plants that grow in mountain and steppe habitat.Hidalgo, O., et al. (2008). Extreme environmental conditions and phylogenetic inheritance: systematics of Myopordon and Oligochaeta (Asteraceae, Cardueae-Centaureinae). Taxon 57(3), 769-78.
It is part of the "Rhaponticum group" in the tribe Cardueae, along with the genera Callicephalus, Leuzea (including Acroptilon and Rhaponticum), Myopordon, and Ochrocephala.Hidalgo, O., et al. (2006). Phylogeny of Rhaponticum (Asteraceae, Cardueae–Centaureinae) and related genera inferred from nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence data: taxonomic and biogeographic implications. Annals of Botany 97(5), 705-14. It can be distinguished from other genera by its pollen.Villodre, J. M. and N. Garcia Jacas. (2000). Pollen studies in subtribe Centaureinae (Asteraceae): the Jacea group analysed with electron microscopy. Bot. J. Linn. Soc 133, 473-84.
SpeciesThe Plant List search for Oligochaeta Oligochaeta divaricata - Caucasus, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey Oligochaeta minima - Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan Oligochaeta ramosa - Indian subcontinent Oligochaeta tomentosa - Caucasus, Iran
formerly included Oligochaeta leucosmerinx Rech.f. & Köie - Schischkinia albispina (Bunge) Iljin
References