Ceropegia lugardae (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Carbohydrate / starch
Essential oil / exudate
Medicinal
Food security
Conservation status

Ceropegia lugardae N.E.Br.

distribution in Africa (wild)

Protologue: Gard. Chron. Ser. 3, 30: 302 (1901).

Family: Asclepiadaceae (APG: Apocynaceae)

Chromosome number: 2n = 22

Vernacular names

• Ceropegia (En).

Origin and geographic distribution

Ceropegia lugardae occurs in Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and northern South Africa.

Uses

In Tanzania fresh roots are chewed and the mashed roots are applied to snakebites. The root sap is also swallowed for the same purpose.

In Zimbabwe and Namibia the fleshy roots are washed and eaten raw, cooked or roasted. It is also a source of water when travelling in time of drought. In Namibia Bushmen hunters rub the leaves on the strings of bows, to make them smooth and pliant. The stem, roots and fruits are bound on the body as a lucky charm during hunting.

Botany

Twining, glabrous herb up to 10 m long, with fleshy, cylindrical roots; stem 3–5 mm in diameter, annual or perennial, with acrid smell. Leaves opposite, simple, slightly fleshy and entire; petiole up to 4 cm long; blade narrowly ovate to broadly ovate-elliptical, 1.5–5.5 cm × 0.6–2 cm, base cordate, auriculate, apex acuminate. Inflorescence an axillary umbel-like cyme, 2–9-flowered, flowers opening successively; peduncle 0.5–5 cm long. Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous; pedicel 1–2 cm long; sepals lanceolate, 3–6 mm long, acute, stippled with reddish; corolla 4–6.5 cm long, greenish-whitish-yellowish stippled with red-brown, tube with basal part ovoid-inflated, greenish, inside purple, hairy, upper part cylindrical, c. 3 mm diameter, straight to bent, gradually widening to 12–16 mm diameter towards the mouth, lobes linear to ovate from a triangular keeled base, 8–35 mm long, narrowed in the middle, folded back along the midvein, fused at the tips, erect to spiraling, often crowned by an additional cage-like structure, greenish with reddish reticulate markings, margin with long hairs; outer corona broadly cup-shaped, 4–5 mm in diameter, whitish green with purple, inner coronal lobes ovate, c. 1.5 mm long, forming pouches, brownish; stamens united into a staminal column. Fruits a pair of follicles; each follicle narrowly fusiform, 10–25 cm × 4–5 mm.

Ceropegia is the largest genus in the tribe Ceropegieae, comprising c. 180 species in the Old World tropics. The distribution of Ceropegia extends from West Africa east to Australia, with two main centers of distribution: East and southeastern Africa (115 species) and India (40 species); 2 additional centers occur in Madagascar (20 species) and China (17 species). The extreme variability of flower morphology in the genus has led to the publication of over 500 different taxon names, of which a large number has been sunk into synonymy. The current concept of relatively few but variable species is increasingly supported by molecular data demonstrating low genetic divergence, even between morphologically rather different-looking variants, as in the Ceropegia aristolochioides Decne. complex. Ceropegia is morphologically similar to Riocreuxia, and is paraphyletic to Brachystelma. Ceropegia lugardiae R.Br. is a commonly found orthographic variation of Ceropegia lugardae.

Many Ceropegia species have edible tubers, and they are treated separately.

Ceropegia aristolochioides

Several Ceropegia species also have medicinal uses, including Ceropegia aristolochioides, a widespread species in tropical Africa. In Niger a decoction of the aerial parts is applied to treat itchy skin eruptions. In Senegal and Ethiopia the tuber is cooked and eaten.

Ceropegia stenantha

Ceropegia stenantha K.Schum. occurs from Sudan south to Namibia and northern South Africa. In Tanzania a root decoction is taken to treat stomach problems in young children. In Zimbabwe the root is chewed and the sap swallowed as a lucky charm.

Ceropegia linearis

Ceropegia linearis E.Mey. ssp. woodii (Schltr.) H.Huber (synonym: Ceropegia woodii Schltr.) occurs wild in Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In South Africa a decoction of leafy stems is taken to treat chest complaints. It is also widely cultivated throughout the world as an ornamental in hanging baskets. It is commonly known as ‘chain of hearts’ and different cultivars exist. The stem tubers are used as stock for grafting difficult stem succulents.

Ecology

Ceropegia lugardae occurs on open woodland, at 900–1300 m altitude. Ceropegia lugardae flowers before new leaves develop.

Genetic resources

Ceropegia lugardae is extremely variable and widely distributed, and not likely to be threatened by genetic erosion. Although Ceropegia spp. are generally not common in their area of distribution, they have been removed from the CITES list Appendix 2, as no legal international or illegal trade is reported; many species are rare or endangered, but not by trade.

Prospects

Ceropegia lugardae will remain of local importance as a medicinal plant, unless chemical and pharmacological research reveal interesting results. It might have some future as an ornamental.

Major references

• Dyer, R.A., 1980. Asclepiadaceae (Brachystelma, Ceropegia, Riocreuxia). In: Leistner, O. (Editor). Flora of southern Africa Vol. 27(4). Government Printer, Pretoria. pp. 1–91.

• Kokwaro, J.O., 1993. Medicinal plants of East Africa. 2nd Edition. Kenya Literature Bureau, Nairobi, Kenya. 401 pp.

• Meve, U. & Liede-Schumann, S., 2007. Ceropegia (Apocynaceae, Ceropegieae, Stapeliinae): paraphyletic but still taxonomically sound. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 94(2): 393–406.

• SEPASAL, 2009. Ceropegia lugardiae. [Internet] Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, United Kingdom. http://www.kew.org/ ceb/sepasal/. July 2009.

Other references

• Adjanohoun, E.J., Ahyi, M.R.A., Aké Assi, L., Dan Dicko, L., Daouda, H., Delmas, M., de Souza, S., Garba, M., Guinko, S., Kayonga, A., N'Golo, D., Raynal, J. & Saadou, M., 1985. Médecine traditionnelle et pharmacopée - Contribution aux études ethnobotaniques et floristiques au Niger. Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique, Paris, France. 250 pp.

• Berhaut, J., 1971. Flore illustrée du Sénégal. Dicotylédones. Volume 1. Acanthacées à Avicenniacées. Gouvernement du Sénégal, Ministère du Développement Rural et de l’Hydraulique, Direction des Eaux et Forêts, Dakar, Senegal. 626 pp.

• Gelfand, M., Mavi, S., Drummond, R.B. & Ndemera, B., 1985. The traditional medical practitioner in Zimbabwe: his principles of practice and pharmacopoeia. Mambo Press, Gweru, Zimbabwe. 411 pp.

• McGaw, L.J., Lall, N., Meyer, J.J.M. & Eloff, J.N., 2008. The potential of South African plants against Mycobacterium infections. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 119: 482–500.

Author(s)

• G.H. Schmelzer, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Correct citation of this article

Schmelzer, G.H., 2010. Ceropegia lugardae N.E.Br. In: Schmelzer, G.H. & Gurib-Fakim, A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 18 December 2024.

• See the Prota4U database.