Ceropegia sect. Ceropegia

Ceropegia sect. Ceropegia

Climbing to creeping tuberous herbs. Tubers globose to irregular with fleshy roots. Lamina cordate to ovate-lanceolate or linear, glabrous; petiolate. Cymes c. 12-flowered. Corolla tube hairy within.

Distribution: Three species in the world, from southern Peninsular India to Sri Lanka. All the three species occur in India ( Table 1).

Key to the species of sect. Ceropegia View in CoL

1. Leaves linear-lanceolate............ C. ravikumariana View in CoL

1. Leaves ovate, elliptic or ovate-elliptic...............2

2. Corolla lobes oblong, glabrous at apex............... ....................................................... C. mannarana View in CoL

2. Corolla lobes ovate-lanceolate, hairy at apex ..... ..................................................... C. candelabrum View in CoL Ceropegia candelabrum View in CoL L., Sp. Pl. 1: 211. 1753; Lour., Fl. Cochinch. 1: 114. 1790; B. Heyne ex Decne. in DC., Prodr. 8: 643. 1844; Thwaites, Enum. Pl. Zeyl. 199. 1860; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 70. 1883; Gamble, Fl. Madras 4: 857. 1921; K.M. Matthew, Fl. Tamilnadu Carnatic 2: 935, t. 67d. 1983; B.D. Sharma et al., Fl. Karnataka, Analysis 166. 1984; Manilal, Fl. Silent Valley 176. 1988; K.M. Matthew, Fl. Palni Hills, S. India 2: 802. 1999; F. Albers & Meve, Ill. Handb. Succ. Pl. Asclepiadaceae 71. 2002. Lectotype (designated by Huber, 1957): Plate of Rheede, Hortus Malabaricus 9: 27, t. 16. 1673.

C. elliottii Hook.f., Fl. Brit. View in CoL India 4: 70. 1883. Lectotype (designated by Kambale & Yadav, 2015): colour drawing by W.Elliot.

C. discreta N.E. Br., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew View in CoL 262. 1909. Lectotype (designated by Kambale & Yadav,

2015): INDIA, Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore district , 1907, s.coll. s.n. ( K000857815 image!) .

Perennial glabrous twining or repent herbs. Rootstock tuberous or of fleshy roots; tubers reduced, c. 1 cm diam.,, rooting at nodes. Stem c. 5 m long, slender, branched, glabrous. Lamina 4.6–8.6 × 3.0– 5.4 cm, ovate or elliptic, acuminate at apex, truncate-rounded at base, glabrous or hairy along margins and nerves beneath, deep green above, pale below; petioles 1.7–3.7 cm long, channeled above, hairy along margins and on ventral side. Cymes umbellate c. 10-flowered, extra-axillary; peduncles 0.7–3.2 cm long, longer than pedicels, glabrous; bracts c. 1.4 × 0.45 mm, subulate, glabrous; pedicels 7–8 mm long, glabrous. Sepals c. 2.5 × 0.95 mm, subulate, purple tinged at apex, glabrous. Corolla 2.2–2.4 cm long; tube 1.8–1.9 cm long, slightly curved-straight, abruptly dilated at base, sub-cylindrical at throat, glabrous at lower half within and hairy at upper-half, greyish striated with faint purple from base to upward; lobes 4–5 mm long, base ovate, connate at the tip forming globular cage, lobes reflexed on their back, hairy at the apex, yellowish-green, deep purple at the tip. Corona bi-seriate, stipitate; outer of 5 entire to tri-dentate lobes, bowl-shaped, c. 2 × 3 mm, ciliate within and along margins, purple along margins, yellow-orange otherwise; inner of 5 erect, c. 2 mm long, connivent, spathulate-clavate lobes, opposite with outer corona, deep purple at base, faint at apex. Pollinia c. 0.2 × 0.2 mm, yellow-red. Follicles c. 12 cm long, straight, tapering towards both ends, glabrous. Seeds 12–15 × 1.1–1.5 mm, brown, ovoid, comose; coma c. 2.5 cm, long silky white.

Key to the varieties

1. Corolla lobes 4–5 mm long, not beaked............. .................................................. var. candelabrum

1. Corolla lobes 0.5–11 mm long, beaked ............. ........................................................... var. biflora View in CoL