About Ellisiophyllum pinnatum (Wall. ex Benth.) Makino
Ellisiophyllum is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, containing only one species: Ellisiophyllum pinnatum (Wall. ex Benth.) Makino. The species has a native range extending from the central Himalayas to New Guinea, and it occurs in central and southern China, the central and eastern Himalayas, Japan, Nepal, New Guinea, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The genus name Ellisiophyllum honors John Ellis (1710–1776), a British linen merchant and naturalist, with the suffix phyllum meaning leaf. The specific epithet pinnata comes from the Latin word meaning "feather-like", a reference to the shape of the species' leaves. This species and genus were first published and described in 1906 in Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) Volume 20, on page 91. Three subdivisions of Ellisiophyllum pinnatum are currently accepted: Ellisiophyllum pinnatum subsp. bhutanense R.R.Mill, found in the eastern Himalayas; Ellisiophyllum pinnatum subsp. pinnatum, found in the central and eastern Himalayas, central and southern China, Taiwan, the Philippines, and New Guinea; and Ellisiophyllum pinnatum var. reptans (Maxim.) T.Yamaz., found in Japan, specifically western Honshu and Shikoku.
