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Ceropegia bulbosa

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Author of this page: Soumen Aditya.

Photo by: Soumen Aditya.  It is C. bulbosa var. bulbosa.
This plant was collected on Mahabaleshwar Mount,
850 meters height, Maharashtra State.


Photo by: Soumen Aditya.


Flowering branch by: Soumen Aditya.


Photo by: Soumen Aditya.

Author: William Roxburgh, 1795
Family:  ASCLEPIADACEAE*
Origin:  Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Minimum - Medium
Sun:  Medium
Thickness:  5-12 Centimetres
Height:  60-200 Centimetres
Flower:  Greenish
Propagate:  Seeds/Cuttings
Names:  -
Synonyms:  Ceropegia acuminata, Roxb.
Ceropegia brosima, E.A.Bruce & P.R.O.Bally.
Ceropegia bulbosa var. esculenta, Hook.f.
Ceropegia bulbosa var. lushii, Hook.f.
Ceropegia edulis, Decne.
Ceropegia esculenta, Edgew.
Ceropegia humilis, N.E.Br.
Ceropegia lushii, Graham.
Ceropegia vignaldiana, A.Rich.

This member of the Asclepiadaceae* family was described by William Roxburgh. It is very widely distributed in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen in red laterite soil. The leaves are subsessile to petiolate while C. b. var. bulbosa has orbicular to ovate leaves. The flowers are pale grey at lease, becoming greyish-purple towards the mouth. Corollar up to 2,5 centimetres long, glabrous on the exterior. The tube with a globose inflated lease. 1-½ men the length of the tube are linear above on ovate, deltoid lease purple within and very hairy inside. Flowering and fruiting from October to around January. The tuber are approx 35 grams to 430 grams, five to twelve centimetres in diameter, sometime flattened caudex, grey to white colour. The vines can reach two metres.

The genera name is from the Greek word keropegion meaning 'candelabrum', because Linnaeus thought that the flowers looked like candles. The species name means 'bulbous, onion-like'.

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


Close-up of the flower by: Soumen Aditya.