Home | > | List of families | > | Apocynaceae subfamilies Asclepiadoideae and Secamonoideae | > | Orbea | > | lutea |
Synonyms: |
Caralluma lutea N.E. Br. Ceropegia lutea (N.E.Br.) Bruyns Orbeopsis lutea (N.E. Br.) L.C. Leach |
Common names: | |
Frequency: | |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Succulent herb, forming mats up to more than 1 m in diameter. Stems up to 12 cm high, grey-green mottled with red-brown; tubercular teeth flattened, triangular, 6-10 mm long. Inflorescences 1 or 2 in the lower half of the stems, 3-30 flowered, often opening more or less simultaneously. Sepals lanceolate-ovate, pointed, 5-8 mm long. Corolla 35-65 mm in diameter, spreading, star-shaped; smooth pale creamy-green to yellow; inside rough and papillate except in the tube, from yellow (in South Africa) to reddish-brown or maroon (Botswana and Zimbabwe), sometimes blotched with yellow; lobes narrowly lanceolate, spreading, 18-35 mm long. Corona with outer lobes wider than long, emarginate to toothed at the apex but more or less rectangular and almost touching as to form a cup, yellow, often with reddish ridges. |
Notes: | Despite the name flower colour is very variable. Only in South Africa are most specimens yellow and specimens from Zimbabwe are dark red to maroon. |
Derivation of specific name: | lutea: yellow (but see note) |
Habitat: | Open Acacia woodland on stony ground often on calcrete. |
Altitude range: (metres) | 500 - 1500 m |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa |
Zimbabwe distribution: | W |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | Vulnerable |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Tuesday 17 March 2020 |
Literature: |
Bruyns, P.V. (2002). Monograph of Orbea and Ballyanthus (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae-Ceropegieae) Systematic Botany Monographs 63 Pages 113 - 115. Fabian, A. & Germishuizen, G. (1997). Wild Flowers of Northern South Africa. Fernwood Press, Vlaeburg. Pages 322 - 323. as Orbeopsis lutea subsp. lutea (Includes a picture). Golding, J.S. (ed.) (2002). Zimbabwe Plant Red Data List. Southern African Plant Red Data Lists. SABONET 14 Page 162. Goyder, D.J., Gilbert, M.G. & Venter, H.J.T. (2020). Apocynaceae (Part 2) Flora Zambesiaca 7(2) Pages 218 - 219. (Includes a picture). Kirby, G. (2013). Wild Flowers of Southeast Botswana Struik Nature, Cape Town South Africa Page 123. (Includes a picture). Leach, L.C. (1978). A contribution towards a new classification of Stapelieae (Asclepiadaceae) with a preliminary review of Orbea Haw. and descriptions of three new genera Excelsa Taxonomic Series No. 1 Aloe, Cactus and Succulent Society of Zimbabwe Pages 64 - 65. As Orbeopsis lutea 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 21. Pooley, E. (1998). A Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region. Natal Flora Publications Trust. Durban. Pages 302 - 303. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 28. Van Wyk, B. & Malan, S. (1988). Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Witwatersrand and Pretoria Region Struik, Cape Town Pages 96 - 97. as Orbeopsis lutea subsp. lutea (Includes a picture). |
Home | > | List of families | > | Apocynaceae subfamilies Asclepiadoideae and Secamonoideae | > | Orbea | > | lutea |