def _parse_variable(v_xml):
    """Parse a variable given the xml representation of it.
    """
    mem_dict = {}
    mem_dd = v_xml.find('detaileddescription')
    try:
        mem_ddstr = mem_dd.find('para').text
    except AttributeError:
        mem_ddstr = ''
    mem_dict['detaileddescription'] = mem_ddstr
    mem_dict['type'] = v_xml.find('type').text
    return mem_dict
