Martynia is used for making beads and ornaments,[1] and has a history of folk medicine uses in the Indian subcontinent.

Houstoun named the plant, Martynia, in honor of a professor of botany at Cambridge, John Martyn.

The plant was described in Martyn's work Historia Plantarum Rariorum, with a full description and illustration.

[citation needed] Martyn gave the species the following descriptive name: Martynia annua villosa et viscosa, folio subrotundo, flore magno rubro.

[4] Martynia is widely naturalized across subtropical and tropical world regions, particularly in Central America and the Indian subcontinent.