Telephium

{{short description|Genus of Molluginaceae plants}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image =

|image_caption =

|display_parents = 2

|taxon = Telephium

|authority = L.Sp. Pl.: 271 (1753)

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision = See text

|synonyms =

• Merophragma Dulac
• Raynaudetia Bubani

|synonyms_ref ={{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:16361-1 |title=Telephium L. |author= |date=2017 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=19 July 2020 }}

}}

File:Telephium_imperati_1.JPG

Telephium are a genus of flowering plants in the family Molluginaceae or Caryophyllaceae, found in Mediterranean parts of Europe, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and western Asia. They are annual or perennial herbs, sometimes becoming woody at their bases.{{cite book |title=The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants: Flowering Plants · Dicotyledons: Magnoliid, Hamamelid and Caryophyllid Families |volume=II |s2cid=38606188 |editor3-first=Volker |editor3-last=Bittrich |editor2-first=Jens G |editor2-last=Rohwer |editor1-first=Klaus |editor1-last=Kubitzki |year=1993 |doi=10.1007/978-3-662-02899-5 |page=225 |isbn=978-3-642-08141-5 }} Together with Corrigiola they form the tribe Corrigioleae.{{cite journal |doi=10.1086/648993 |title=A New Lineage-Based Tribal Classification of the Family Caryophyllaceae |year=2010 |last1=Harbaugh |first1=Danica T. |last2=Nepokroeff |first2=Molly |last3=Rabeler |first3=Richard K. |last4=McNeill |first4=John |last5=Zimmer |first5=Elizabeth A. |last6=Wagner |first6=Warren L. |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=171 |issue=2 |pages=185–198 |s2cid=55826969 }}

The generic name is derived from a Greek word for a plant thought to be a symbol of reciprocated love ("far-off-lover").Gledhill H. 1985. The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0521366755}}