Ceropegia yampwapwa Masinde

Apocynaceae (part 2), David Goyder, Timothy Harris, Siro Masinde, Ulrich Meve, Johan Venter. Flora of Tropical East Africa, 2012

Morphology General Habit

Herbaceous, leafy twiner to 50 cm high.

Morphology Roots

Root system unknown.

Morphology Stem

Stem sparsely branched, succulent, 2–3 mm diameter glabrous

Morphology Leaves Stipules

Stipules subulate, persistent, 1–3 × 0.5 mm, abaxially pilose

Morphology Leaves

Leaves sessile or subsessile, subsucculent; lamina linear to linear-lanceolate, 30–140 × 2–8 mm, base cuneate, apex acute, glabrous except for midrib beneath, margin ciliolate

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence sessile, extra-axillary, umbellate, 1–3flowered, flower buds apically sharply beaked, flowers developing successively, one flower open at a time.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts

Bracts subulate, ± 1 × 0.3 mm, pale green with purplish spots, glabrous.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel

Pedicels 5–6 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Sepals subulate-lanceolate, ± 4 × 0.5 mm, glabrous, pale green with purplish-mauve specks

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla ± 34 mm long; tube ± 26 mm long, basal 1/3 with an ovoid inflation ± 8 × 5 mm diameter, then narrowing gradually into a long ascending cylindrical part ± 3 mm diameter widely dilated in throat to 11 mm diameter; exterior pale-brown in inflation then passing into whitish or mauve in middle part to base of lobes, glabrous; interior probably similar in colour to outside, inflation glabrous then at narrowed apically part with a dense ring of downwardpointing whitish hairs which gradually decrease and eventually disappear halfway up the tube, then rest of tube to throat glabrous; lobes ± 9 mm long, plicate in apical 2/3, acutely triangular, with distance from keel to margin of ± 2 mm in middle, erect, connate at apex to form a ± conical cage ± 20 mm diameter at widest, with an apical beak, margins glabrous; adaxially pale brownish, very sparsely finely ciliate in basal part of keel to ± glabrous; abaxially mauve, glabrous

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corona

Corona distinctly stipitate, ± 3 × 2.5 mm diameter, translucent white with purplish blotches and specks in parts, glabrous in all parts; outer lobes apically much reduced to below bases of pollinaria, forming five shallow pouches ± 0.4 × 0.7 mm wide, margins entire; inner lobes cylindrical, ± 2 × 0.2 mm, erect, free, apically slightly recurved, apex obtuse

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers

Anthers yellowish, prominently visible with thick apices, subhorizontally orientated above the conical to flattened stylar head.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pollinia

Pollinia ovoid, ± 0.33 × 0.24 mm; corpusculum obovate, ± 0.11 × 0.07 mmm; caudicles unusually long, ± 0.1 mm long

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Follicle and seed unknown.

Ecology

Acacia-Delonix wooded bushland on white sandy soil; ± 800 m

Note

C. yampwapwa is related to C. stenantha and only known from a single collection. It is vegetatively very similar to C. stenantha in its leaves and stems but florally very distinct by the relatively larger flowers with a widely dilated tube. The characters distinguishing C. yampwapwa from C. stenantha are : C. yampwapwa: corolla much dilated in throat to 11 mm in diameter, corolla lobes acutely triangular, plicate in apical 2/3, not auriculate; tube inflation completely glabrous throughout, anther apices ± club-shaped, pollinaria with relatively long caudicles. C. stenantha: corolla not or very slightly dilated in throat to 3 mm in diameter, corolla lobes linear, only slightly or not plicate, basally auriculate; tube inflation pilose in ± basal 1/2, anther apices not club-shaped, pollinaria with shorter caudicles. The caudicles of Ceropegia species are usually quite short so that when the pollinaria are separated from the gynostegium, the pollinia tend to move towards the corpusculum and may even conceal them making them only observable with difficulty. The conspicuous caudicles are reminiscent of those prevalent in such groups like the Cynanchinae and Marsdenieae. The collection Fries 1383, from Zambia (as Rhodesia borealis in sched.), Northern Province, Kalambo near Tanganyika, 28 Nov. 1921, probably belongs to this species. It is vegetatively similar to Bidgood et al. 961 and has a cluster of fusiform roots. It has only very young tiny flower buds, making it difficult to identify the specimen positively.

Distribution

Flora districts: T5 Range: Only known from the type