Which carnivorous plant genus, described in 2000, honors botanist David Philcox?

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The carnivorous plant genus described in 2000 in honor of botanist David Philcox is Philcoxia.

Peter Taylor, Vinícius Souza, Ana Maria Giulietti, and Raymond Harley formally published Philcoxia in 2000 as a new genus from eastern Brazil. The name commemorates David Philcox, a Kew botanist who worked extensively on tropical Scrophulariaceae, the family in which the genus was originally placed. Philcoxia is now generally classified in Plantaginaceae.

Its plants are unusual small herbs of deep white sand in Brazil's cerrado. They have subterranean stems and tiny peltate leaves that lie at or below the soil surface. The leaves are covered with stalked glands, a feature that initially suggested possible carnivory even though the plants resemble terrestrial bladderworts in some ways.

Carnivory was not immediately settled. A 2007 study found no detectable protease activity in Philcoxia minensis, but later work reported digestive enzymes, prey digestion, and nutrient uptake. That history explains why Philcoxia is sometimes discussed as a once-mysterious genus whose carnivorous status was established gradually.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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