märkˈgrāvēə, mȧkˈ- noun
Usage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Georg Markgraf died 1644 German naturalist and traveler in So. America + New Latin -ia
: a genus (the type of the family Marcgraviaceae) of tropical American epiphytic woody vines that have vegetative shoots with 2-ranked closely appressed sessile leaves and flowering shoots with spreading petiolate leaves