''Medinilla sedifolia'' is a perennial plant of the family

Melastomataceae Melastomataceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs, sh ...

that grows primarily in Madagascar, but is occasionally used as a terrarium plant, an epiphyte mounting, or in hanging pots. It is small for the genus, growing only tall. The waxy evergreen leaves grow on a trailing stem. It flowers twice per year, the five petaled flowers are magenta, waxy to the touch, and about wide when fully grown. Medinilla sedifolia stem

Etymology

''Medinilla'' is named for José de Medinilla y Pineda, who was governor of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

(then known as the Marianne Islands) in 1820.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 253

References

sedifolia Taxa named by Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie Taxa named by Henri Lucien Jumelle {{Melastomataceae-stub