Spigelia elbakyaniae (also spelled Spigelia elbakyanii) is a species of flowering plant in the family Loganiaceae. It is an annual plant with papery leaves and white flowers. The species is native to Oaxaca, Mexico.
Spigelia elbakyaniae was described in 2020, and is named after Alexandra Elbakyan.
Taxonomy The species was originally published as Spigelia elbakyanii in 2020, by Sofia Islas-Hernández and Leonardo Osvaldo Alvarado-Cárdenas. The type specimen was collected from Santa María Chimalapa in 1995.
Distribution Spigelia elbakyaniae is native to the wet tropical biome of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. The species grows in montane cloud forests, at elevations of around .
Description Spigelia elbakyaniae is an annual herb that grows to around high. The leaves are arranged oppositely, and grow on stems. The leaves are papery, lanceolate, long, and wide.
The inflorescence is a scorpioid cyme, with a stem around long. Each inflorescence has eleven flowers, which lack stems. The calyx has lanceolate green lobes. The corolla is white with purple lines, funnel-shaped, and long. The corolla has lobes, which are around long, and around wide. The plant flowers in March.
Spigelia elbakyaniae is similar to Spigelia humboldtiana and Spigelia anthelmia.
Etymology Spigelia elbakyaniae is named after Alexandra Elbakyan, the founder of Sci-Hub. The name was originally published as Spigelia elbakyanii, but the spelling was amended, as species epithets dedicated to women are correctly ended with "-iae".
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