Pombalia
Pombalia
Genus of flowering plant
Pombalia Vand. is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Violaceae.[1]
Its native range is the tropical and subtropical parts of Central and South America, Mexico and the American states of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.[1] It has been introduced to Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina (in the USA), KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and Vietnam (in Asia).[1]
The genus name of Pombalia is in honour of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal (1699–1782), a Portuguese statesman and diplomat who effectively ruled the Portuguese Empire from 1750 to 1777 as chief minister to King Joseph I.[2] It was first described and published in Fasciculus Plantarum cum novis generibus et speciebus. Olisipone[3] (Fasc. Pl.) on page 7 in 1771.[1]