Callicephalus

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{Speciesbox

|image =

|display_parents = 4

|genus = Callicephalus

|parent_authority = C.A.Mey.

|species = nitens

|authority = (Willd.) C.A.Mey.

}}

Callicephalus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, containing the single species Callicephalus nitens. It is native to the middle and low mountains of the Caucasus,Hidalgo, O., et al. (2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20161227223754/http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/97/5/705.full 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. where it has been recorded in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey.[http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetailOccurrence.asp?NameId=7520369&PTRefFk=7000000 Callicephalus nitens occurrence.] Euro+Med PlantBase. 2006.

The genus is considered part of the Rhaponticum group in the Asteraceae tribe Cardueae, but according to molecular analyses it has no close relatives. Its isolation in the phylogeny of the tribe suggests it is a relict taxon, one of many relict plants that grow in the Caucasus.