Classification
Kingdom: Plantae (2715)
Phylum: Tracheophyta (2630)
Class: Magnoliopsida (2217)
Order: Scrophulariales (81)
Family: Orobanchaceae (15)(family description)
Genus: Alectra (1)
Epithet: sessiliflora (Vahl) Kuntze (1)
Synonyms: Alectra barbata (Hiern) Melch., Alectra melampyroides Benth., Alectra thomsonii Hook.f., Melasma barbatum Hiern, Nigrina sessiflora Kuntze, Rhinanthus scaber Thunb.
barbata => bearded, having tufts of long weak hairs
barbatum => bearded, having tufts of long weak hairs
melampyroides => resembling Melampyrum
scaber => rough
sessiflora => bearing sessile, or stalk-less flowers
sessiliflora => bearing sessile, or stalk-less flowers
thomsonii => in honor of [1] Thomas Thomson (1817–1878), Scots-born physician and botanist or [2] George Malcolm Thomson (1849–1933), New Zealand educator and botanist