Ceropegia haygarthii Seeds - Lantern Flowers - Indigenous South African Succulent Vine

Ceropegia haygarthii Seeds

Lantern Flowers

The genus Ceropegia belongs to the Asclepiadoideae sub-family within the family Apocynaceae. Species of this genus bear similarities to the carrion flowers or Stapelias. There are between 160 and 200 species worldwide and they are found widely from the Canary Islands, Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, Sri Lanka, southern China, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and Queensland. It was named by Carl Linnaeus, who first described this genus in volume 1 of his Species plantarum, which appeared in 1753. Linnaeus thought that the flowers looked like a fountain of wax. From this the scientific name was derived: ‘keros’ meaning wax and ‘pege’ meaning fountain. They have many common names including lantern flower, parasol flower, parachute flower, bushman’s pipe, string of hearts, snake creeper, wine-glass vine, rosary vine and necklace vine. Ceropegia species have attracted much attention from botanists, horticulturalists, gardeners and succulent plant enthusiasts. Numerous species are commercially available and grown as ornamental container and indoor plants. They can be propagated by seed and cuttings. Ceropegia haygarthii, synonymously known as Ceropegia distincta subsp. haygarthii or Ceropegia tristis and commonly known as Lantern Flowers is a South African endemic species found in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces. As the plant matures you can expect it to become around 3 m long and around 6 mm in diameter. The stems are pale to dull green while as it reaches the end of the stem it becomes more and more bright. When the plant flowers it produces purple-maroon flowers.