MATELEA CYCLOPHYLLA

This member of the Asclepiadaceae* family was given this name by Robert Everard Woodson in 1941. It's from Mexico, growing in well-drained soil with some water and a bit of sun. The caudex can grow to 20 centimetres, the vines can reach two metres. The flowers are brown and smelly! It can only be reproduced by seeds.

The genera name might be a local or an old name. It was introduced by Jean Baptiste Christophe Fusée Aublet in Histoire des Plantes de la Guiane Françoise 1: 277–280, pl. 109. 1775, but I fail to find any explanation to the name (but it is in French).

The species name from Greek κυκλοϛ; cyclos; 'circle, ring, disk' and φυλλον; phyllon; leaf' or 'foliage' for the round leaves. *)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Asclepiadaceae is now part of the Apocynaceae. A bigger one. Not much living tissue inside.