6887.000 Huernia R. Br.

Stems fleshy, glabrous, 4-5(-6)-angled, tubercled with rudimentary leaves arising from the centre of the tubercle, without stipules. Inflorescence a pedunculate cyme, often arising from the base of the stem. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla shape variable, with or without an annulus; 5-lobed, with 5 minor lobes in the sinuses; inside usually papillose or tuberculate, rarely smooth; margin without cilia. Corona of two rows, each of 5 lobes; inner and outer well separated vertically; outer lobes united to form a disk; inner lobes arising at the top of the staminal column, smooth, simple; usually with a transverse ridge or gibbosity at their base. Follicles erect, glabrous. Seeds with an apical tuft of hairs.

Comment: More recent phylogenetic evidence has led to the forming of a very broad concept of the genus Ceropegia including the genus Brachystelma and all known genera within the Stapeliae (Bruyns, P.V., Klak, C. & Hanáček, P., 2017). However we follow Goyder et Al. in Flora Zambesiaca 7(2), 2020 where the inclusion of the Stapeliad genera has not been accepted.
There is a record of Huernia longituba from Southeastern Zimbabwe listed in Mapaura & Timberlake, 2004 (Sabonet 33: 21). It is based on a labeled specimen at SRGH. However, both the variability within the subtaxa of the closely related Huernia hislopii and the long distance between this record and the nearest population of H. longituba, make it likely this name is in error.

Worldwide: 64 species in tropical and South Africa; also Saoudi Arabia

Zimbabwe: 14 taxa.