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| syn. Ceropegia angiensis (De Wild.), Ceropegia calcarata (N. E. Br.), Ceropegia criniticaulis (Werderm.), Ceropegia meyeri-johannis var. angiensis ((De Wild.) H. Huber), Ceropegia meyeri-johannis var. verdickii ((De Wild.) H. Huber), Ceropegia verdickii (De Wild.) |
| distribution:
Congo Kenya: Nyeri District, Thika District / Central Province; Taita-Taveta District / Coast Province; Kitui District / Eastern Province; Nairobi District / Nairobi Province; Nyando District / Nyanza Province; Kajiado District, Kericho District, Laikipia District, Nakuru District, Nandi District / Rift Valley Province Malawi Mozambique South-Africa: Eastern Cape Sudan: Imatong Mountains / Torit District / Eastern Equatoria Province Tanzania: Kilimanjaro Province Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe |
| Ceropegia
meyeri-johannis
belongs to the species with spindle-shaped, fleshy roots. This species is a rampant growing liana, which has occosionally branching, hirsute stems that can reach a length of up to 4 m and which. The internodes reach lengthes of 8 to 16 cm. The leaves have an 1,5 to 3,5 cm long petiole. They are broadly lancet-shaped or ovate, sometimes heart-shaped and reach a length of 3,5 cm to 9,5 cm and are 3 cm to 7 cm wide. They are not succulent and slightly hairy in part. The flowers of this species have an very conspicuous and typical shape, which in spite of all the variability allways appears recognizable. Above all the upper end of the flower tube is very widened and reminds on a trumpet. The colour of the flowers varies from pure white to light pink - when the dark purple colouration of the inside is shining through the outside. The flowers may be unicoloured or may be mottled with pink resp. red spots. The elongated petals are united at the end. They are green or greenish dark brown in colour. The scent of the flowers is described as geranium like resp. slightly sweet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I cannot say if this species is actually in cultivation, all plants known to me in actuality turned out to be wrongly labelled specimens of the species Ceropegia papillata (tuber instead of fleshy roots). |
 left:Ceropegia meyeri-johannis, flower depiction from: Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien nebst ihren Gattungen und wichtigeren Arten, insbesondere den Nutzpflanzen, unter Mitwirkung zahlreicher hervorragender Fachgelehrten begründet von A. Engler und K. Prantl fortgesetzt von A. Engler. Leipzig, Engelmann; 4, 272 (1897) http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org |
| References: - F. Malaisse: Recherches sur les Asclepiadaceae du Shaba (Zaire) 1. Nouvelles observations sur le genre Ceropegia L.. Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. / Bull. Nat. Plantentuin Belg. 54 (1/2) 213-234 (1984) - P. G. Archer: Kenya Ceropegia Scrapbook. Notes and records of some Kenya Ceropegia. Hobart (AUS): Artemis Pup. Consultans. 1992 - Ib Friis; Kaj Vollesen; Kongelige Danske: Flora of the Sudan-Uganda Border Area East of the Nile. Catalogue of vascular plants. Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 1998 - Jeff Ollerton; Siro Masinde; Ulrich Meve; Mike Picker; Andrew Whittington: Fly pollination in Ceropegia (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae): biogeographic and phylogenetic perspectives. Annals of Botany 2009 103(9): 1501-1514 |