Ceropegia conrathii
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Ceropegia conrathii is a species of the subfamily of the silk plants (Asclepiadoideae).
features
Vegetative characteristics
Ceropegia is a perennial , very small plant with a bulbous rhizome. The by and large spherical, somewhat flattened tuber measures 3 to 10 cm in height and 2 to 7 cm in diameter. The shoots formed annually are only 6 to 12 cm high; the diameter is 1 to 2 mm. The leaves are sessile. The slightly succulent leaf blades are upright and splayed. They usually appear after the flowers. They are narrow-lanceolate to ovate and tapering to a point at the outer end. They measure up to 30 mm in length and 12 mm in width. The edges are wavy and hairy.
Inflorescence and flowers
The numerous inflorescences are sessile and attach to the side of the shoot. An inflorescence contains one to six flowers that open one after the other, but two flowers are often open at the same time. The individual inflorescences bloom at about the same time. The flower stalks are 7 to 15 mm long. The five-fold hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and have a double flower envelope. The sepals are lanceolate and 2 mm long. The corolla is up to 3.5 cm long and is slightly curved. The five petals are fused together in the lower part to form a slender cinnamon-colored corolla tube ( sympetalie ). The inside papillary corolla in the basal part of the corolla tube is ellipsoid and measures 8 to 10 mm in length and 3 to 4 mm in diameter. Above the crown bowl, the actual crown tube narrows to a diameter of 2.5 mm; inside it is sparsely hairy. The petals are up to 8 mm long, narrow, linear, not bent and fused with the ends. They form an onion-shaped, cage-like structure with a hint of purple. Occasionally there are also specimens in which the tips are not fused. The whitish, bald corolla has a short stem and is fused with a bell-shaped base. The tips of the interstaminal, outer secondary crown have been reshaped in the basal pocket-like shape and have U-shaped, 0.5 mm deep upper edges. They are laterally fused with the base of the protruding staminal corolla. The lobes of the staminal, inner secondary crown are 1.5 mm long and 0.3 mm wide, cylindrically shaped and standing upright and then inclined.
Fruits and seeds
The follicles are spindle-shaped, 10 cm long with a diameter of 4 mm.
Similar species
Ceropegia conrathii is close to Ceropegia floribunda NEBr. related, but has twisting shoots.
Geographical distribution
Ceropegia conrathii occurs in the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal , Gauteng and North Cape . The flowers sometimes appear before the leaves.
Systematics and taxonomy
'The taxon was described in 1905 by Rudolf Schlechter in the 38th volume of the Botanical Yearbooks for Systematics, Plant History and Plant Geography, p. 45. The holotype (Conrath 1008, Herbarium Royal Botanic Gardens Kew) was collected by Paul Conrath in 1905 near Modderfontein (now up in Benoni , near Johannesburg ).
Herbert Huber synonymized Ceropegia floribunda NEBr. with Ceropegia conrathii . Robert Allen Dyer recognized both taxa as separate species in 1983.
supporting documents
literature
- Ulrich Meve: Ceropegia . In: Focke Albers, Ulrich Meve (Hrsg.): Succulents Lexicon Volume 3 Asclepiadaceae (silk plants) . Pp. 61-107, Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2002. ISBN 3-8001-3982-0
- Robert Allen Dyer: Ceropegia, Brachystelma and Riocreuxia in southern Africa. VIII, 242 pp., Rotterdam, Balkema, 1983 ISBN 90-6191-227-X (pp. 194–197)
Individual evidence
- ^ Rudolf Schlechter: Asclepiadaceae africanae. In: Botanical Yearbooks for Systematics, Plant History and Plant Geography , Volume 38, 1907 [1905], pp. 26–56, Leipzig (pages 1–123 of Volume 38 were issued on October 3, 1905) Online at www.biodiversitylibrary. org (p. 45)