''Sarcostemma'' is a formerly recognized genus of

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 ...

s in the dogbane family,

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 ...

, first described as a genus in 1810. The name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words σαρκὸς (''sarkos''), meaning "flesh," and στέμμα (''stemma''), meaning "garland". Members of the genus were known generally as climbing milkweeds or caustic bushes. The genus ''Sarcostemma'' has been shown to be nested within the genus '' Cynanchum'', and in 2012 ''Sarcostemma'' was put into synonymy with ''Cynanchum''.Goyder, D.J 2008 Nomenclatural changes resulting from the transfer of tropical African ''Sarcostemma'' to ''Cynanchum'' (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae) Kew Bulletin 63:3Ulrich Meve, Sigrid Liede-Schumann 2012. Taxonomic dissolution of ''Sarcostemma'' (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae). Kew Bulletin 67:4

Selected former species

Moved to other genera ('' Cynanchum'', '' Funastrum'', '' Leptadenia'', '' Philibertia'').

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment''Sarcostemma'' in Australia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1117141 Asclepiadoideae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Historically recognized angiosperm genera