JARILLA CAUDATA

This member of the Caricaceae family was given this name by Paul Carpenter Standley in 1924. It is found in the highlands of Mexico, growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to twelve centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to four metres in diameter. The flowers are white to pale purple. The genera is dioecious: Male or female plants. The 1894 description of Mocinna heterophylla var. sesseana states that the fruit has a delicate flavour, when cooked in sugar. The cut fruit smells of lemon or citron. This plant has been called jarrilla cimarrona; little jug of the wasteland in Jalisco.

The genera name after the Spanish name for the plants; jarrilla. This describes the peculiar shape of the fruit, like the classic hispanic clay jarro. The species name means 'tailed, with tail' which must be for the fruits. Drawing from the original description as Mocinna heterophylla var. sesseana from biodiversitylibrary.org. The fruits by Pablo González Maldonado, Inaturalist.ala.org.au.