Anaphyllopsis is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of flowering plants in the Araceae

Araceae

Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like bract. Also known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

. The genus was created in 1988 by Hay in order to account for the differences of Cyrtosperma americanum from other Cyrtosperma

Cyrtosperma

Cyrtosperma is a genus of flowering plants in the Araceae family that consists of approximately 12 species. The genus had gone through considerable taxonomic changes in the 1980s, and as a result is now considered to be endemic to only Asia and some Pacific islands...

species. The decision was to create a genus named Anaphyllopsis and rename Cyrtosperma americanum as Anaphyllopsis americanum. Two other species from the Amazon

Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...

 were subsequently added, Anaphyllopsis pinnata and Anaphyllopsis cururuana. The leaves of Anaphyllopsis are characteristic of being pinnate

Pinnate

Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning "feather", "wing", or "fin". A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts...

. Anaphyllopsis is quite similar in appearance to the genus Anaphyllum

Anaphyllum

Anaphyllum is a genus of flowering plants in the Araceae family. It consists of two species that are both endemic to southern India. They are found in marshes, have leaves with some pinnation, and have a twisted spathe. The two species in this genus are similar in appearance to those in the genus...

.