Ceropegia candelabrum

Ceropegia candelabrum View in CoL L. var. biflora (L.) Ansari, Fasc. Fl. India 16: 12. 1984. Ceropegia biflora L., Sp. Pl. 1: 211. 1753 View Cited Treatment ; Trimen, Handb. Fl. Ceylon 3: 167. 1895. Lectotype (designated by Ansari, 1984): Plate of Hermann Herb. Ceropegia 110 (BM!).

Ceropegia tuberosa Roxb., Pl. Coromandel View in CoL 1: 12. t. 9. 1795; Dalzell & A. Gibson, Bombay Fl. 154. 1861; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 70. 1883; T. Cooke, Fl. Bombay 2: 241. 1905; B.D. Sharma et al., Fl. Karnataka, Analysis 166. 1984. C. candelabrum View in CoL L. subsp. tuberosa (Roxb.) H. Huber in Dassan. & Fosberg, Revised Handb. Fl. Ceylon 4: 120. 1983; H.O. Saxena & Brahmam, Fl. Orissa 2: 1087. 1995; Karthik. et al., Fl. Pl. India 1: 161. 2009; Kambale & S.R. Yadav, Asklepios 115: 29. 2013. Lectotype (designated by Huber, 1983): Roxb., Pl. Corom. 1, t. 9. 1795.

Ceropegia candelabrum auct . Hanumanthappa in Pull. & Moulali, Fl. Andhra Pradesh 2: 585. 1997; F. Albers & Meve, Ill. Handb. Succ. Pl. Asclepiadaceae 71. 2002, p.p., non Linnaeus, 1753. Fig. 6 View Fig

Vernacular name: Wel-mottu (Sinhala).

Lamina ovate to elliptic. Cymes umbellate, c. 12-flowered, extra-axillary; peduncles c. 4.5 cm long; pedicels c. 1.5 cm long. Sepals 3–4.5 mm long, linear. Corolla 2.5–3.5 cm long; tube 1.2–2.4 cm long, slightly curved, abruptly dilated at base, sub-cylindrical, funnel-shaped at throat, glabrous at lower half within and hairy with downwardly pointed hairs at upper-half, greyish coloured striated with faint purple from base to upward; lobes 0.5–1.1 cm long, broader at the base, linear above, coiled at the tip forming beaked structure, usually connate at the tip, rarely free, hirsute at the upper 1/3 rd portion, hairy within at the base, orange-deep purple at the upper 1/3 rd portion, yellowish-green at the base. Follicles 10–14 cm long.

Flowering & fruiting: August–January.

Habitat: Grows along slopes and road-sides in dryscrub forests.

Distribution: India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Tamil Nadu) and Sri Lanka.

Specimens examined: INDIA, Andhra Pradesh, Chittoor district , Nagalapuram hills, 04.10.1974, M . Chandrabose 45232 ( MH!); Cuddapah district , Talakona top, 25.11.2007, B. R . Rao & B . Sadasivaiah FAP 30389 ( SKU!); East Godavari district , stream near Devaramandu, 26.09.1980, G. V . Subbarao 68572 ( MH!); Godavari district , Adatigala, 15.08.1914, M. S . Ramaswami 1698 ( CAL!); Guntur district , Kendavendu fort, 18.10.1902, C. A . Barber CAB 4662 ( MH!); Mehboobnagar district, Mannanur , 31.07.1995, T . D. Chandrakumar FAP 16805 ( SKU!); Prakasam district, Tummalabailey , 08.10.1995, R . Vijaykumar FAP 15890 ( SKU!); Srikakulam district, Rampa hills, 25.09.1920, V . Narayanaswami 283 ( CAL!); Visakhapatnam district , Kothuru, 28.09.1961, N. P . Balakrishnan 886 ( CAL!) . Karnataka, Chamarajanagar district , way from Mysore to Gundlupet, 02.08.1964, B . D. Naithani 21308 ( MH!); Kolar district , Kothapally, 26.06.1978, T. M . Ramakrishna TMR 1072 ( MH!); Tumkur district , Devrayandurga, 15.08.1978, C. J . Saldanha KFP 2214 ( CAL!) . Kerala, Idukki district , Panamkutty, 17.10.1982, C. N . Mohanan 74647 ( MH!); Kollam district , s.loc., 28.08.1913, M. R . Rao 2145 ( CAL!); Wayanad district , s.loc., 1881, R. H . Beddome s.n. ( MH!) . Orissa, Ganjam district, Chilika lake, Dethatia Island , 09.09.1913, D. Hoopa 39567 ( CAL!) . Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore district , Marudhamalai, 05.11.1956, K. M . Sebastine 1205; Ibid., 27.11.2010, S. S . Kambale, A. R . Kulavmode & R. V . Gurav SUK 2557 View Materials ( SUK!); Mount Stuart , 27.10.1961, J . Joseph 13384 ( CAL!); Dharmpuri district, Geratti forest , 25.07.1978, E . Vajravelu 57976 ( MH!); Dindigul district, Sirumalai, 10.1951, s.coll. s.n. ( RHT!); Madurai district , Madurai, 10.11.1911, C. E. C . Fischer 3177; way to Paichahur, 20.10.1977, M . Chandrabose 51395 ( MH!); Nagapattinam district, Point Calimere , 19.01.1961, J . Ellis 11786 ( MH!); Nilgiris district, Kunukkumadavu , 05.11.1970, E . Vajravelu 36715 ( MH!); North Arcot district, Tippukadu Reserve forest , 20.11.1965, K . Ramamurthy 17611 ( MH!); Ramanathapuram district, Sundharamadayan , 13.11.1989, V . Balsubramanian KASC 2199 ( MH!); South Arcot district, Pakamalai Reserve forest , 10.09.1977, K . Ramamurthy 51150 ( CAL!); Tirunelveli district , Courtallam, 30.11.1913, M. R . Rao 1913; Lower Kodayar , Vallachithodu, A. N . Henry 68936 ( CAL!); Virudhunagar district , Nagariyar Estate, 11.11.1989, S. R . Srinivasan 86973 ( MH!) .

Conservation status: It is represented by good populations in drier parts of South India. However, records of its presence and range of distribution outside this area are not available. So the status is treated as Data Deficient (DD).

Notes: Ceropegia biflora was described by Linnaeus (1753) based on the drawing of Paul Hermann, while C. tuberosa Roxb. was described latter by Roxburgh in 1795. Huber (1957, 1983) reduced the former as a synonym and the latter as a variety of C. candelabrum . However, Ansari (1984) reduced C. tuberosa as a synonym under C. biflora and recognized the latter as a variety under C. candelabrum . At varietal rank, C. candelabrum var. biflora has priority and hence in the present study the treatment given by Ansari (1984) has been followed. This taxon closely resembles var. candelabrum but differs in having beaked linear corolla lobes.