Melianthus

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the family Francoaceae}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Melianthus_major_1.jpg

|image_caption = M. major

|taxon = Melianthus

|authority = L.

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = See text

}}

Melianthus is a genus of flowering plants native to elevated grassland in South Africa. A common name for these plants is honey flower, which is also the English translation of the Latin name.{{cite book |last=Coombes |first=Allen J. |title=The A to Z of plant names |year=2012 |publisher=Timber Press |location=USA |isbn=9781604691962 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781604691962/page/312 312] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781604691962/page/312 }} This name also attaches to the species M. comosus and M. major that are found in cultivation.

The genus contains up to six species of evergreen shrubs. They have large pinnate leaves with prominent stipules, and erect racemes of nectar-rich flowers.{{cite book|title=RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants |year=2008 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1405332965 |pages=1136}} The vegetative parts are very toxic.{{cite journal|last=Hansen|first=Dennis M. |author2=Olesen, Jens M. |author3=Mione, Thomas |author4=Johnson, Steven D. |author5= Müller, Christine B. |title=Coloured nectar: distribution, ecology, and evolution of an enigmatic floral trait |journal=Biological Reviews |date=2007 |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=83–111 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-185X.2006.00005.x |url=http://www.uwinst.uzh.ch/publications/ThesisHansen06.pdf |access-date=1 May 2014 |pmid=17313525|s2cid=21719506 }}