Ceropegia stapelliiformis

Ceropegia stapeliiformis

This is an attractive and unusual species of Ceropegia that is found in Southern Africa and is known to have two distict subspecies. Ceropegia stapeliiformis subsp. stapeliiformis is known from the Eastern Cape and was first illustrated in Curtis's Botanical Magazine on plate 3567 (1837) and later (1941) in the Flowering plants of South Africa, Vol. 21: 809. Ceropegia stapeliiformis subsp. serpentina is known from Mapumalanga, Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal and is illustrated in the Flowering plants of Africa, Vol. 27: 1072.

Ceropegia stapelliformis is usually found rooted in leaf mould under the protection of shrubs. They have thick procumbent basal stems, which root when coming into contact with the soil.