kermaisia

Kermaisia is a fictional genus designed for illustrative purposes in botanical taxonomy. It is not an accepted scientific name for any real plant, but is used in teaching materials and thought experiments to discuss genus delimitation and nomenclature.

In the standard fictional account, Kermaisia is placed in the imagined family Kermaisaceae within the order Ranunculales. The construct allows exploration of how molecular phylogenetics can reassign species between genera and alter taxonomic rankings. Morphologically, Kermaisia is described as herbaceous perennials with simple, alternate leaves and small, inconspicuous flowers, though exact character sets vary across didactic examples.

Educationally, kermaisia serves to exemplify issues such as monophyly, polyphyly, and the importance of type specimens and formal descriptions. It is often used to demonstrate how taxonomic concepts evolve with new data and how nomenclatural rules handle hypothetical taxa.

Because kermaisia is fictional, there are no real-world type specimens or published taxonomic treatments. References to kermaisia appear in classroom notes, textbooks, and simulations rather than peer-reviewed botanical literature. See also taxonomy, nomenclature, phylogenetics.