Commemorating X. Manetti (b. 1723), keeper of the botanic garden in Florence.

Evergreen herbs or subshrubs, often climbing or trailing. Leaves opposite, stalked; stipules sometimes toothed or fringed. Flowers solitary and axillary or in white, yellow or red clusters, 4-parted, tubular or funnel-shaped. Fruit a capsule containing small, winged seeds.

Grown for the twining habit and brightly coloured tubular flowers.

Softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings.

A twining climber with more than 1 ovule per ovary chamber.

Some species are used locally for medicinal purposes.

About 80 species from tropical America.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Rubiaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.