HYDNOPHYTUM FUSIFORME

This member of the Rubiaceae family was given this name by Camilla Rose Huxley and Matthew H. P. Jebb in 2019.

It is found in the Nong River area in north-western Papua New Guinea and the southern highlands, growing as an epiphyte in deep mosses with lots of water and some sun. The caudex can grow to 30 centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to 40 centimetres in height. The flowers are white. The genera name after Greek hydnon meaning 'tuber' and phyton meaning 'plant', after the swollen branches. The species name means 'carrot-shaped' or 'tapering at both ends'.