Anisacanthus

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Anisacanthus quadrifidus wrightii.jpg

|image_caption = Anisacanthus quadrifidus

|taxon = Anisacanthus

|authority = Nees{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?691 |title=Anisacanthus Nees |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2009-01-23 |access-date=2010-06-17}}

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = 11; see text

|subdivision_ref = [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:377-1 Anisacanthus Nees]. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 27 January 2024.

|synonyms =

• Birnbaumia {{small|Kostel. (1844)}}
• Idanthisa {{small|Raf. (1840)}}

|synonyms_ref =

|}}

Anisacanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek words ανισος (anisos), meaning "unequal," and ακανθος (acanthos), meaning "thorn."{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esMPU5DHEGgC |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names |volume=I: A-C |year=2000 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8493-2675-2 |page=145}} Members of the genus are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. They are commonly known as desert honeysuckles,{{ITIS |id=182367 |taxon=Anisacanthus |accessdate=17 June 2010 }} though this term is shared with the genus Ancistranthus, and is something of a misnomer as true honeysuckles (genus Lonicera) belong to the family Caprifoliaceae. Anisacanthus species are sometimes cultivated for use in xeriscaping.