Laverania

Laverania is a subgenus of the genus Plasmodium. The subgenus was created in 1958 by Bray. The subgenus contains only species: Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium reichenowi.

The name was first proposed by Welch in 1897 as a genus name for the group now known as Plasmodium but for a variety of reasons the genus name Plasmodium was preferred.

Diagnostic features
The parasites infect either humans or chimpanzees

The gametocytes are cresentic in appearance

Species in this subgenus
Plasmodium falciparum Plasmodium reichenowi