Zyzyxia is a genus of tropical shrubs in the family Asteraceae native to Central America.

[5] Around 1990, John L. Strother was revising the six North American genera of the subtribe Ecliptinae in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) for publication in Systematic Botany Monographs.

For one, the achenes (fruits) did not have a thin winged membrane around the edge as other species in the genus were supposed to have.

His editor insisted that the genera be treated alphabetically, and to insert a new genus in the middle of his 100-page treatment would mean numerous changes to the format and layout of the article.

Knowing this, Strother decided he might as well make the genus the last one likely ever to exist in any list, and named the plant Zyzyxia.