About Matelea floridana (Vail) Woodson
Matelea floridana, commonly known as Florida milkvine or Florida spiny pod, is a flowering plant in the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the family Apocynaceae, the milkweed subfamily. It is endemic to Florida and two counties in Georgia, and it holds an official listing as Endangered. It is a perennial dicot. Its flowers are purplish black, 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) in diameter. They grow on short pedicels located at mature nodes along the stem, and there can be one to many flowers per cluster. The leaves grow in opposite pairs, are heart-shaped (cordate), measure 5–10 cm (2–4 in) in length, and have a light covering of fine hairs. This species closely resembles Matelea carolinensis in appearance, but the two species do not have overlapping geographic distributions. For cultivation, this species germinates in roughly 30 to 60 days when grown without any form of seed stratification. It grows slowly, but after around 60 days the plant can be trained to climb. This species is thigmotropic, so providing space for it to climb is required. Once the plant has established itself on a vertical surface, flowers can begin to form at nearly every node. The flowers of Matelea floridana have a scent similar to rotting fruit.
