RUEHSSIA HILARIAN

This member of the Asclepiadaceae* family was given this name by Fabio da Silva do Espírito Santo and Alessandro Rapini in 2019. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela, growing in clay to a well drained soil with quite some water and some to lots of sun. The caudex can grow to seven centimetres in diameter, 50 centimetres long, the entire plant to 200 centimetres or more in height. The flowers are dark orange.

The genera name in honour of Carl Andreas Rühsz, 1805–1880, the German consul in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. The species name honours Augustin Saint-Hilaire,1779–1853, a French botanist and entomologist; explored and collected in South America. *)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Asclepiadaceae is now part of the Apocynaceae. The fruit by Alex Popovkin, Wikimedia.org.