Bessera is a genus of Mexican plants in the cluster lily subfamily within the asparagus family. It is a small genus of 3 known species of mostly herbaceous flowering plants with corms. They have flowers with petals and petaloid sepals (tepals) with compound pistils. The genus is named for Austrian and Russian botanist Wilibald Swibert Joseph Gottlieb von Besser (1784–1842). Bessera elegans, called coral drops, is cultivated and is a half-hardy Mexican herbaceous plant growing from corms with drooping terminal umbels of showy red-and-white colored flowers. Taxonomy Species Current species include: Bessera elegans Schult.f. — central to southern Mexico. Bessera tenuiflora (Greene) J.F.Macbr. — Baja California Sur state, including the southern Baja California Peninsula and Gulf of California islands; and the coastal region of mainland Northwestern Mexico. Bessera tuitensis R.Delgad. — Jalisco state in coastal southwestern Mexico. Former species Some plants formerly classified as Bessera species have been reclassified under other genera, which include: Androstephium, Drypetes, Flueggea, Guapira, and Pulmonaria. Former species include: Bessera azurea — Pulmonaria angustifolia Bessera breviflora — Androstephium breviflorum Bessera calycantha — Guapira opposita Bessera inermis — Flueggea virosa Bessera spinosa — Drypetes alba References Brodiaeoideae Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of Central Mexico Flora of Southwestern Mexico Asparagaceae genera