Ceropegia | |
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Ceropegia distincta var. haygarthii | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Gentianales |
Family: | Apocynaceae |
Subfamily: | Asclepiadoideae |
Tribe: | Ceropegieae |
Genus: | Ceropegia L. (1753) |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Ceropegia is a genus of plants within the family Apocynaceae, native to Africa, southern Asia, and Australia. [2] [3] It was named by Carl Linnaeus, who first described this genus in his Genera plantarum, which appeared in 1737. [4] Linnaeus referred to the description and picture of a plant in the Horti Malabarici as the plant for which the genus was created. [5] In 1753 he named this species as Ceropegia candelabrum . [6] Linnaeus did not explain the etymology but later explanations stated that the name Ceropegia was from the Greek [7] word keropegion κηροπηγɩον. [8] [9] This means candelabrum in Latin, which has a broader range than the modern word - "a candlestick, a branched candlestick, a chandelier, candelabrum, or also lamp-stand, light-stand, sometimes of exquisite workmanship". [10]
An alternative explanation for the name was given later by William Jackson Hooker in 1830 in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in the description of Ceropegia elegans : "From κηρός , wax, and πηγή , a fountain, in allusion to the delicate, waxy umbels of some species". [11] However, four years later Hooker gave the etymology in the description in the same periodical of Ceropegia lushii as "remarkable for the peculiar shape of its flowers, frequently arranged in umbels, hence its name κηροπηγɩον, a candelabrum, or lamp-stand". [12]
They have many common names including lantern flower, parasol flower, parachute flower, bushman's pipe, string of hearts, snake creeper, wine-glass vine, rosary vine, and necklace vine.
Ceropegia species are traded, kept, and propagated as ornamental plants. [13] In Africa, the roots and leaves of some species are eaten raw [14] and the tubers in India are eaten raw or stewed in curries. [12]
The stems are vining or trailing in most species, though a few species from the Canary Islands have erect growth habits. Among some species, such as Ceropegia woodii , the nodes swell, and the roots similarly expand to form tubers beneath the soil surface. The leaves are simple and opposite, although they can be rudimentary or absent. Especially in certain succulent species, the leaves may also be thick and fleshy.
The flowers have a tubular corolla with five petals most often fused at the tips, forming an umbrella-like canopy, a cage, or appendage-like antennae. [15] Pollination is accomplished by flies, and species can be generalists by attracting multiple families, or extremely specialized. [16] Ceropegia dolichophylla releases scents that attract kleptoparasitic flies by mimicking the pheromones released by predatory arthropods in distress. [17] The flowers are often inflated and fused at several points, forming a cage. Flies become momentarily trapped inside, accomplishing pollination as they move about. [13]
The genus Ceropegia belongs to the subfamily Asclepiadoideae (milkweeds) within the family Apocynaceae. Species of this genus bear similarities to the carrion flowers or stapelias. There are at least 420 known species. [18] More are being discovered and described regularly. [13] [19] They are distributed throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar to the Arabian Peninsula, southeast Asia, the Canary Islands, the tropical Pacific, and Australia. [13]
A generic complex, with many interesting taxonomic problems at both generic and specific level, is formed by three genera: Ceropegia, Brachystelma and Riocreuxia .
Over 450 species are accepted. [1] [20] Selected species include:
Euphorbia is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae.
Apocynaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Members of the family are native to the European, Asian, African, Australian, and American tropics or subtropics, with some temperate members. The former family Asclepiadaceae is considered a subfamily of Apocynaceae and contains 348 genera. A list of Apocynaceae genera may be found here.
The Asclepiadoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Formerly, it was treated as a separate family under the name Asclepiadaceae, e.g. by APG II, and known as the milkweed family.
Stapeliinae is a subtribe of flowering plants within the tribe Ceropegieae of the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the family Apocynaceae. The subtribe comprises about 35 genera, including both the stem-succulent "stapeliads" and the horticulturally popular genera Brachystelma and Ceropegia. The largest number of genera are native to Africa, but a more limited number of genera are widespread in Arabia and Asia. Historically, a similarly circumscribed taxon was treated as a separate tribe, Stapelieae.
The genus Huernia consists of perennial, stem succulents from Eastern and Southern Africa and Arabia, first described as a genus in 1810.
Sherardia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus contains only one species, Sherardia arvensis, the (blue) field madder, which is widespread across most of Europe and northern Africa as well as southwest and central Asia and Macaronesia. It is also reportedly naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Kerguelen, Ethiopia, Sudan, southern Africa, Mexico, Costa Rica, South America, Bermuda, Cuba, Haiti and much of Canada and the United States.
Carrion flowers, also known as corpse flowers or stinking flowers, are mimetic flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh. Apart from the scent, carrion flowers often display additional characteristics that contribute to the mimesis of a decaying corpse. These include their specific coloration, the presence of setae and orifice-like flower architecture. Carrion flowers attract mostly scavenging flies and beetles as pollinators. Some species may trap the insects temporarily to ensure the gathering and transfer of pollen.
Ceropegia stapeliiformis is a flowering plant in the genus Ceropegia (Apocynaceae), native to South Africa and Eswatini. Common names include serpent ceropegia, snake creeper, and slangkambro.
Allamanda schottii, commonly known as bush allamanda, is a shrub of genus Allamanda in the family Apocynaceae, which is native to Brazil. Reaching 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) in height, it bears large yellow flowers for much of the year. Grown as an ornamental plant, it has become a weed in several countries.
Duvalia is a succulent plant genus in the subfamily Asclepiadoideae, in the family Apocynaceae (dogbane).
Ceropegia sandersonii is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to Mozambique, South Africa, and Eswatini. Common names are parachute plant, fountain flower, and umbrella plant.
Cynanchum viminale is a leafless succulent plant in the family Apocynaceae. The species is native to West Africa, the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific region. The species' natural range extends from South Africa throughout much of Africa and the Middle East to India, Indochina, Southern China, Indomalaya and into Meganesia. The species is also found on several Indian Oceans islands including Mauritius, Réunion and the Seychelles.
Microloma is a small genus of Ceropegia-like twiners and twiggy bushes occurring in mainly arid or fynbos regions in South Africa. They are generally nondescript when not in bloom, but the flowers of most species are incongruously decorative.
Ceropegia striata is a plant species endemic to Madagascar. It is known only from the Vavavato Massif in the central highlands, at an elevation of approximately 1800 m.
Notechidnopsis is a group of plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1985. It contains only one recognized species, Notechidnopsis tessellata, native to Cape Province in South Africa.
Pollination traps or trap-flowers are plant flower structures that aid the trapping of insects, mainly flies, so as to enhance their effectiveness in pollination. The structures of pollination traps can include deep tubular corollas with downward pointing hairs, slippery surfaces, adhesive liquid, attractants, flower closing and other mechanisms.
Ceropegia candelabrum is the type species in its genus of plants, belonging the subfamily Asclepiadoideae. The Latin specific epithet candelabrum is derived from the candelabra-like appearance of the inflorescences.
Ceropegia radicans is a species of herb in the family Apocynaceae. The leaves are fleshy and glabrous and it has a large cage-like flower with a slender tube swollen at the base, and divided into five segments at the top. It grows up to 20cm in height.
Ceropegia ampliata is a flowering plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, native to eastern and southern Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, and Madagascar. Common names include bushman's pipe, condom plant, and horny wonder.