Home | > | List of families | > | Apocynaceae subfamilies Asclepiadoideae and Secamonoideae | > | Gomphocarpus | > | glaucophyllus |
Synonyms: |
Asclepias glaucophylla (Schltr.) Schltr. Asclepias lilacina Weim. |
Common names: | Blue milkweed (English) Gwendere (Shona) |
Frequency: | |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Perennial herb, growing from a woody rhizome. Stems 1-several, ascending to erect, up to 1 m long, hairless and more or less blue-green. Leaves opposite (sub)sessile, ovate to lanceolate, 7-12 cm long, distinctly blue-green and with a waxy bloom on both surfaces, cordate at the base. Flowers in 9-15-flowered, extra-axillary nodding umbels. Corolla lobes usually reflexed, greenish-yellow, sometimes purplish on the outside. Corona lobes attached c. 1.5 mm above the base of the staminal column, greenish-yellow, as tall as the column. Follicle erect on a twisted pedicel, fusiform or slightly inflated oblong-elliptic, 5.5-10 cm long, occasionally longitudinally winged, hairless, often blue-green. |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | glaucophyllus: with glaucous (bluish-green) leaves |
Habitat: | In grassland, Brachystegia and mixed deciduous woodland. |
Altitude range: (metres) | 700 - 2400 m |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. |
Zimbabwe distribution: | N,W,C,E |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Saturday 22 November 2008 |
Literature: |
Baumann, G. (2005). Photographic Guide to Wildflowers of Malawi Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi Pages 102 - 103. (Includes a picture). Binns, B. (1968). A First Check List of the Herbaceous Flora of Malawi The Government Printer, Zomba, Malawi Page 21. Chapano, C. & Mamuto, M. (2003). Plants of the Chimanimani District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 28. Goyder, D.J. & Nicholas, A. (2001). A revision of Gomphocarpus R. Br. Kew Bulletin 56 Pages 813 - 815. Goyder, D.J., Gilbert, M.G. & Venter, H.J.T. (2020). Apocynaceae (Part 2) Flora Zambesiaca 7(2) Page 300. (Includes a picture). Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 20. |
Home | > | List of families | > | Apocynaceae subfamilies Asclepiadoideae and Secamonoideae | > | Gomphocarpus | > | glaucophyllus |