Succulent twiner, stems thin, less than 0.5 cm thick, roots fleshy, tapered at each end. Leaves rudimentary, lanceolate, 2-3 mm long, fleshy. Flowers 50-70 mm long, flower stalks 6-15 mm long. Corolla tube straight, 35-50 mm long, cream to pale green, with subglobose basal inflation; lobes lanceolate, fused at the tip, forming a cage, green, not extended into a 5-winged head.

S Africa

 

C. distincta N.E. Br. from S Africa is a succulent twiner, with stems thin and less than 0.5 cm thick, roots fleshy, tapered at each end. Leaves well developed, oblong to lanceolate-ovate, up to 75 mm long and 50 mm wide, fleshy. Flowers 45-50 mm long, flower stalks 8-16 mm long. Corolla tube curved upwards nearly at right angles, 25-30 mm long, cream with red-brown spots and blotching, with slight globose basal inflation; lobes deltoid-ovate, fused at the tip, forming a cage, cream and red-brown, then extended into a 5-winged head. Most plants cultivated in Australia are probably C. distincta subsp. haygarthii (Schltr.) Huber.

C. nilotica Kotschy from Kenya, Mozambique, S Africa, Sudan and Tanzania is a succulent twiner with stems thin, less than 0.5 cm thick, roots fleshy, tapered at each end. Leaves well developed, lanceolate to ovate, up to 80 mm long and 60 mm wide, fleshy. Flowers 35-50 mm long, flower stalks 7-10 mm long. Corolla tube slightly curved upwards, 25-35 mm long, cream with red-brown spots and blotching, with slight globose basal inflation; lobes deltoid-ovate, fused at the tip, forming a cage, pale green and red-brown near tip, rough-hairy all over, not extended into a 5- winged head.

C. radicans Schltr. from S Africa is a succulent twiner, stems thin, less than 0.5 cm thick, roots fleshy, tapered at each end. Leaves well developed, elliptic-ovate, up to 40 mm long and 25 mm wide, succulent. Flowers 55-80 mm long, flower stalks 10-30 mm long. Corolla tube more or less straight, 40-55 mm long, cream to pale green, with slight, 5-angled basal inflation; lobes deltoid-lanceolate, fused at the tip, forming a cage, yellow-green near tip, with scattered hairs on edges, not extended into a 5-winged head.

C. rendallii N.E. Br. from S Africa is a succulent twiner with roots forming a solid, rounded tuber. Leaves well developed, broadly ovate, up to 30 mm long and 33 mm wide, fleshy. Flowers 20-25 mm long, flower stalks 4-5 mm long. Corolla tube more or less straight, 15-20 mm long, pale green to green-cream, with slight globose basal inflation; lobes infolded and fused to form an umbrella-like canopy, green, margins shortly ciliate, not extended into a 5-winged head.

C. sandersonii Hook. f. from S Africa is a succulent twiner, stems thin, less than 0.5 cm thick, roots fleshy, tapered at each end. Leaves well developed, cordate-ovate to lanceolate-ovate, up to 50 mm long and 25 mm wide, succulent. Flowers 40-70 mm long, flower stalks 7-10 mm long. Corolla tube slightly curved, 25-50 mm long, pale green with cream, with slight, 5-angled basal inflation; lobes united above and forming an umbrella-like canopy 20-50 mm wide, pale green with darker green blotching, not extended into a 5-winged head.

Source: Forster, P. (2002). Asclepiadaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.