Ceropegia sect. Esculentae Bruyns, S.

Ceropegia sect. Esculentae Bruyns, S. African J. Bot. 112: 412. 2017. Type: Ceropegia bulbosa Roxb.

Climbing tuberous succulent herbs. Leaves succulent, linear-lanceolate to ovate, petiolate to sub-sessile, glabrous. Cymes c. 13-flowered.

Corolla tube hairy within.

Distribution: Five species in the world; west to northeast Africa, southern Arabian Peninsula, southeast Asia from Pakistan to central and Peninsular India. In India the section is represented by a single species i.e. C. bulbosa Roxb. ( Table 1).

Ceropegia bulbosa Roxb., Pl. Coromandel View in CoL 1: 11. t. 7. 1795; Dalzell & A. Gibson, Bombay Fl. 153. 1861; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 67. 1883; Duthie, Fl. Gangetic Plain 2: 66. 1911; H. Huber, Mem. Soc. Broter. 12: 60. 1957; Gamble, Fl. Madras 4: 857.1957; T. Cooke, Fl. Bombay 2: 240. 1958; Ansari, Fasc. Fl. India 16: 11. 1984; B.D. Sharma et al., Fl. Karnataka, Analysis 165. 1984; Fl. Akola District, Maharashtra 130. 1988; B.V. Shetty & V. Singh, Fl. Rajasthan 2: 476. 1991. S.D. Deshp. et al., Fl. Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra 1: 360. 1993; Hanumanthappa in Pull. & Moulali, Fl. Andhra Pradesh 2: 584. 1997; Naik, Fl. Marathwada 1: 544. 1998; A.P. Jagtap & N.P. Singh, Fasc. Fl. India 24: 217. 1999; A.P. Jagtap & Das Das in N.P. Singh et al., Fl. Maharashtra, Dicot. 2: 349. 2001; M.R. Almeida, Fl. Maharashtra 3 A: 229. 2001; F. Albers & Meve, Ill. Handb. Succ. Pl. Asclepiadaceae 70. 2002; T.S. Nayar et al., Fl. Pl. Kerala 84. 2006; Karthik. et al., Fl. Pl. India 2: 160. 2009; Kambale & S.R. Yadav, Asklepios 115: 29. 2013. Lectotype (designated by Huber, 1957): Roxb. Pl. Coromandel 1: 11, t. 7.

Vernacular names: Daichandi (Hindi), Jolaka, Hallike (Kannada), Galya, Kanvel, Kharpudi, Khartundi, Khapparkadu (Marathi), Commo manda, Settu nimatayalu (Telugu).

Perennial twining herbs. Rootstock tuberous; tubers c. 5 × 2 cm, sub-globose, depressed, sub-spherical or oblong, roots fibrous. Stem c. 1.5 m long, usually single from each tuber, rarely two, terete, glabrous. Lamina 1.2–4.6 × 1.1–4.5 cm, lower orbicular, upper elliptic-oblong or ovate-cordate, acuminate at apex, rounded or sub-cordate to cordate at base, lateral nerves 3–5 pairs, slightly ciliolate along margins, glabrous otherwise; petioles 0.4–1.0 cm long, channeled above, slightly hairy at apex, glabrous otherwise. Cymes 4–13-flowered, extra-axillary; peduncles 1.2–2 cm long, terete, glabrous; bracts 1.2–3 × 0.35 mm, subulate, glabrous; pedicels c. 5 mm long, terete, glabrous. Corolla 1.4–2.3 cm long; tube 1–1.5 cm long, slightly curved, abruptly dilated at base, funnel-shaped at throat, glabrous outside, hairy within except for dilation part, greyish-green with pink blotches at the dilation and at the base of corolla lobes, faint purple within with striations at dilated part; lobes 4–8 mm long, reflexed on back, connate at tip forming an obovate-ellipsoid cage, linear from triangular base, obtuse, hairy within and along margins, deep purple-green at upper-half, hairs purple-pink. Corona bi-seriate, stipitate; outer of 5 lobes, equal, c. 3 mm long, saucer-shaped, glabrous, white; inner of 5 erecto-divergent lobes, 2 mm long, linear, alternating with outer corona. Pollinarium c. 0.3 × 0.3 mm. Follicles 6.8–12 cm long, tapering towards apex, glabrous. Seeds 6–8 mm long, brownish with yellow reflexed wings, comose; coma 1.5–2.5 cm long.

Key to the varieties

1. Leaves orbicular to elliptic-oblong, apiculate at apex ................................................. var. bulbosa View in CoL

1. Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute at apex ............. ............................................................ var. lushii View in CoL