kellaria

Kellaria is a fictitious genus of flowering plants used in speculative biology and science fiction world-building. In the imagined flora of the Archipelago of Valora, Kellaria is placed in the family Kellariaceae within the order Lamiales. The genus comprises several species adapted to coastal and montane environments.

The genus name Kellaria honors the fictional botanist Dr. Elena Kellari; the form combines her surname with the Latin suffix -aria to denote a group of related plants.

Kellaria species are typically herbaceous perennials or small shrubs with opposite leaves and simple margins. Stems may be decumbent or climbing. Flowers are five-lobed with tubular corollas and are commonly pale purple or yellow; the fruit is a dry capsule containing several seeds.

Kellaria is native to temperate coastal belts of the fictional Archipelago of Valora, tolerating well-drained soils and moderate salinity. Pollination is by solitary bees and hawkmoths; seed dispersal occurs mainly by gravity, with wind occasionally aiding dispersal for lightweight seeds.

It was first described within the fictional canon by botanist I. R. Thorne in 2102, with Kellaria littora as the type species. In-world discussions use Kellaria as a case study for adaptive diversification in isolated archipelago ecosystems. There are no recorded real-world culinary or medicinal uses; within the fiction some species are noted as toxic.