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Raphionacme splendens

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Photo by Sándor Horváth.


The caudex bý  K.K. Agrawal.

Author:  Friedrich R.R. Schlechter, 1895
Family:  ASCLEPIADACEAE*
Origin:  Angola, Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zaďre, Zimbabwe
Soil:  Sandy Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Medium
Thickness:  25 Centimetres
Height:  20-50 Centimetres
Flower:  Purple / White
Propagate:  Seeds
Names:  -
Synonyms:  Raphionacme brownii, sensu Mapaure & Timberlake.
Raphionacme excisa,
Schltr.
Raphionacme jurensis,
N.E. Br.
Raphiacme macrostemon
, K. Schum.
Brachystelma bingeri, A. Chev. 1901. = Raphionacme bingeri,  J. P. Lebrun & A. L. Stork, 1984 = Raphionacme splendens subs. bingeri, Hendrik Johannes Tjaart Venter, 2009.

This member of the Asclepiadaceae family was given this name by Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter in 1895. It is found throughout Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zaďre and Zimbabwe. It is growing in a well drained soil with quite some water and little to some sun. The caudex can grow to 25 centimetres in diameter, the entire plant up to 20 or even 50 centimetres in height. The flowers are purple and white.

The genera name from Greek rhaphis; 'beet-root' and akme; 'sharpness' possibly referring to the taste of the roots - haven't tried yet. The species name referring to the splendid bright colour of the flower.

*)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Asclepiadaceae is now part of the Apocynaceae.