''Ceropegia stapeliiformis'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the genus ''

Ceropegia ''Ceropegia'' is a genus of plants within the family Apocynaceae, native to Africa, southern Asia, and Australia. It was named by Carl Linnaeus, who first described this genus in his ''Genera plantarum'', which appeared in 1737. Linnaeus referr ...

'' (

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

), native to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

. Common names include serpent ceropegia, snake creeper, and slangkambro. ''Ceropegia stapeliiformis'' is a prostrate, creeping, trailing or climbing succulent creeper with fibrous roots (which develop where the warty, trailing stems touch the ground) and has clear sap. The leaves are minute and rudimentary, soon falling off the stems. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are 5–7 cm long and have a distinctive funnel or flask-shape, which create a pitfall in which pollinators may be temporarily trapped. The stapeliiformis has a greenish white colour that is spotted or streaked with maroon. The petals surrounding the mouth are free-spreading, reflexed and fringed with hairs. The fruit a follicle with tubercles. This species is usually found rooted in leaf mould under the protection of shrubs. Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

have been described: *''Ceropegia stapeliiformis'' subsp. ''stapeliiformis'' *''Ceropegia stapeliiformis'' subsp. ''serpentina'' (E.A.Bruce) R.A.Dyer The subspecies ''stapeliiformis'' is known from areas of karroid scrub in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province of South Africa, with a distribution from

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

and

Willowmore Willowmore is a town in Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Willowmore is situated 140 km north-east of the town of Knysna and 117 km south-west of Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a p ...

to Graaff Reinet and

King William's Town Qonce, formerly King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape), Buffalo River. The town is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London, South Africa, ...

. This subspecies is known to flower from October to March. The subspecies ''serpentina'', which was initially described as ''Ceropegia serpentina'' by E. A. Bruce, has a distribution which ranges from Northern

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

and Eswatini to

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

and

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

provinces of South Africa, where it occurs in scrub bush. The flowering time from December to March. The names have the derivations ''stapeliiformis'' = resembling

Stapelia ''Stapelia'' is a genus of low-growing, spineless, stem succulent plants, predominantly from South Africa with a few from other parts of Africa. Several Asian and Latin American species were formerly included but they have all now been transfer ...

(Latin), and ''serpentina'' = serpentine (Latin).

References

* (treats as a distinct species) * Dyer, R.A. 1983. ''Ceropegia, Brachystelma and Riocreuxia in Southern Africa''. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. * Herbert F. J. Huber: Revision of the genus Ceropegia. In: Memórias da Sociedade Broteriana, Volume 12, 1957, S.1-203, Coimbra {{Taxonbar, from=Q1055533 stapeliiformis