Orlaya


Orlaya is a genus of flowering plants from Europe in the family Apiaceae, with between 1 and 11 species. They are annuals with finely-divided leaves, and umbels of lacy pink or white flowers. O. grandiflora, white laceflower, is well-known and widely cultivated as an ornamental in the UK and elsewhere. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The following species are currently accepted:-
  • Orlaya daucorlaya Murb.
  • Orlaya grandiflora Hoffm.
  • Orlaya kochii Heywood
  • Orlaya topaliana Beauverd

    Etymology

The namesake of this genus is Johann Orlay, a Hungarian-Russian surgeon who lived from 1770 to 1829. It was the German botanist Georg Franz Hoffmann who dedicated the name Orlaya to Johann Orlay in 1814.