Ruehssia

Ruehssia
Ruehssia woodburyana, Puerto Rico
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Asclepiadoideae
Tribe: Marsdenieae
Genus: Ruehssia
H.Karst.
Synonyms
  • Baxtera Rchb.
  • Ecliptostelma Brandegee
  • Elcomarhiza Barb.Rodr.
  • Harrisonia Hook.
  • Loniceroides Bullock
  • Pseudomarsdenia Baill.
  • Pseusmagennetus Ruschenb.
  • Sphinctostoma Benth.
  • Verlotia E.Fourn.

Ruehssia is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae. It is also in the Asclepiadoideae subfamily and Marsdenieae tribe.

Its native range is tropical and subtropical South America. It is found in Argentina (north-eastern and north-western), Belize, Bolivia, Brazil (north, north-eastern, south, south-eastern and west-central), Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, Mexico (north-eastern, south-eastern and south-western), Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Windward Islands.

The genus name of Ruehssia is in honour of Carl Andreas Rühsz (1805–1880), the German consul in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. He was a supporter of art and science. It was first described in 1849.