Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 27, 2026

Bessera

Bessera is a genus of Mexican plants in the cluster lily subfamily within the asparagus family. It is a small genus of 5 known species of mostly herbaceous flowering plants with corms. They have flowers with petals and petaloid sepals (tepals) with compound pistils.

Last revised
Jun 27, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
305 w
Citations
9
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Bessera
Bessera elegans
1839 illustration2
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Brodiaeoideae
Genus: Bessera
Schult.f. 1829, conserved name not Schult. 1809 (Boraginaceae) nor Spreng. 1815 (Putranjivaceae) nor Vell. 1825 (Nyctaginaceae)1
Synonyms3
  • Pharium Herb.

Bessera is a genus of Mexican plants in the cluster lily subfamily within the asparagus family.45 It is a small genus of 5 known species of mostly herbaceous flowering plants with corms.6 They have flowers with petals and petaloid sepals (tepals) with compound pistils.

The genus is named for Austrian and Russian botanist Wilibald Swibert Joseph Gottlieb von Besser (1784–1842).

Bessera elegans, called coral drops, is cultivated and is a half-hardy Mexican herbaceous plant growing from corms with drooping terminal umbels of showy red-and-white colored flowers.

Taxonomy

Species

Plants of the World Online currently accepts four species:3

  • Bessera elegans Schult.f. — central to southern Mexico.
  • Bessera elegantissima E.Gándara, Ortiz-Brunel, Art.Castro & Ruiz-Sanchez
  • Bessera ramirezii E.Gándara, Ortiz-Brunel, Art.Castro & Ruiz-Sanchez
  • Bessera tuitensis R.Delgad. — Jalisco state in coastal southwestern Mexico.

Former species

Some species formerly placed in Bessera have been reclassified to other genera, including Androstephium, Drypetes, Flueggea, Guapira, and Pulmonaria.
Former species include:16

References

References

  1. Tropicos, search for Bessera
  2. Edwards's Botanical Register; Consisting of Coloured Figures of Exotic Plants Cultivated in British Gardens; with their History and Mode of Treatment. London 25: t. 34 (1839). sulivanica
  3. "Bessera Schult.f." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  4. Stevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Brodiaeoideae
  5. Govaerts, R. (1996). World Checklist of Seed Plants 2(1, 2): 1-492. Continental Publishing, Deurne.
  6. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families