What is "martynia"

n. sprawling annual or perennial herb of Central America and West Indies having creamy-white to red-purple bell-shaped flowers followed by unusual horned fruit [syn: Martynia annua]

Martynia is a monotypic genus in the Martyniaceae consisting of a single species, Martynia annua, commonly known as the cat's claw, and is endemic to Mexico. It is a popular material for basket making among Native American tribes in the Southwest. The genus and species were first validly described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 publication Species Plantarum. It was first collected, however, by the Scottish naval surgeon William Houstoun near Veracruz, Mexico. Houstoun sent seeds of this new plant to Philip Miller, chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden, in 1731. Houstoun took the opportunity to name the plant Martynia in honor of a professor of botany at Cambridge, John Martyn. The plant was first seen in print in Martyn's famous work Historia Plantarum Rariorum, with a full description and illustration. In this pre-Linnaean nomenclature era, Martyn gave the species the following descriptive name: Martynia annua villosa et viscosa, folio subrotundo, flore magno rubro.