RAPHIONACME HAENELIAE

This member of the Asclepiadaceae* family was given this name by Hendrik Johannes Tjaart Venter and Rudolf L. Verhoeven, in 1996. It is found in the Namib Naukluft Park in Namibia, growing in sand or gravel with some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to 3,5 centimetres in diameter, 25 centimetres long, the entire plant to 30 centimetres in height. The flowers are lemon-green outside, inside lemon-green with flushed pink in centre.

The genera name from Greek rhaphis; 'beet-root' and akme; 'sharpness' possibly referring to the taste of the roots - haven't tried yet. The species is named after Ms. Christine Hänel, an official at Gobabeb Research Station, who re-found the plant in 1994, 22 years after E.R. Robinson's first collection. *)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Asclepiadaceae is now part of the Apocynaceae.