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, they were treated as a separate family under the name Asclepiadaceae, e.g. by APG II, and known as the milkweed family.
Ceropegia is a genus of plants within the family Apocynaceae, native to Africa, southern Asia, and Australia. It was named by Carl Linnaeus, who first described this genus in his Genera plantarum, which appeared in 1737. Linnaeus referred to the description and picture of a plant in the Horti Malabarici as the plant for which the genus was created. In 1753 he named this species as Ceropegia candelabrum. Linnaeus did not explain the etymology but later explanations stated that the name Ceropegia was from the Greek word keropegion κηροπηγɩον. 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".
Stapelia is a genus of low-growing, spineless, stem succulent plants, predominantly from South Africa with a few from other parts of Africa. Several Asian and Latin American species were formerly included but they have all now been transferred to other genera. The flowers of certain species, most notably Stapelia gigantea, can reach 41 cm (16 inches) in diameter when fully open. Most Stapelia flowers are visibly hairy and generate the odor of rotten flesh when they bloom.
The genus Huernia consists of perennial, stem succulents from Eastern and Southern Africa and Arabia, first described as a genus in 1810.
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.
Duvalia is a succulent plant genus in the subfamily Asclepiadoideae, in the family Apocynaceae (dogbane).
Larryleachia is a genus of stapeliad succulent flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae.
Stapelianthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1933. The entire genus is endemic to Madagascar and is concentrated in the far south of the island.
Pseudolithos is a genus of succulent flowering plants of the family Apocynaceae, indigenous to arid areas of Somalia, Yemen and Oman.
Tavaresia is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1902. It is native to southern Africa.
- Tavaresia angolensisWelw. - Angola
- Tavaresia barklyi(Dyer) N.E.Br. - South Africa
- Tavaresia grandifloraBerger - South Africa
- Tavaresia meintjesiiR.A. Dyer - Limpopo
Stapeliopsis is a genus of succulent plants in the family Apocynaceae, native to southern Africa.
Echidnopsis is a genus of succulent, cactus-like plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1871. They are native to eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Piaranthus is a succulent plant genus in the subfamily Asclepiadoideae, in the family Apocynaceae.
Orbea is a genus of flowering plants of the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1812. It is native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Peter René Oscar Bally was a Swiss botanical illustrator, botanist and taxonomist. The standard author abbreviation P.R.O.Bally is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
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.
