Ceropegia meveana Heiduk, D.Styles & Liede, 2025

Heiduk, Annemarie, Styles, David G. A. & Liede-Schumann, Sigrid, 2025, Ceropegia meveana (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae) - A new species in section Bowkerianae from the Barberton Centre of Plant Endemism, Phytotaxa 694 (1), pp. 68-76 : 72

Ceropegia meveana Heiduk, D.Styles & Liede sp. nov. ( Figs. 2 & 3A, C )

Type: — ESWATINI. Hhohho: ca. 4 km north of Forbes Reef , ca. 1,240 m, 22 December 2024, D. G. A. Styles & A. Heiduk 6320 (holotype: NU [ NU0165498 !]; isotype: NU [ NU0165499 !]) .

Diagnosis: — Ceropegia meveana differs from C. scabriflora in having taller (up to 300–700 mm vs. 300–400 mm) and rounded stems (vs. flattened in C. scabriflora ), larger (up to 140 x 5.5 mm vs. 30–80 x 3 mm in C. scabriflora ) and more fleshy leaves, an oblong-ovoid (vs. obconical and apically indented in C. scabriflora ), glabrous and smooth (vs. scabrid and verrucose in C. scabriflora ) basal inflation, a glabrous and smooth corolla tube (vs. scabrid and distinctively longitudinally furrowed in C. scabriflora ), a wider corolla mouth (ca. 10 mm vs 6–7.5 mm in C. scabriflora ), longer corolla lobes (33–44.5 mm vs. 25–32.5 mm in C. scabriflora ) with a markedly villous, fur-like coating of trichomes, a glabrous gynostegium (vs. basally pilose in C. scabriflora ) and much shorter, only bulge-like outer corona lobes (vs. bifid, 0.5 mm long lobules in C. scabriflora ).

Description: —Perennial, erect herb. Rootstock cluster of fleshy, fusiform roots. Stems annual, single, unbranched, up to 700 mm tall, glabrous, green. Leaves sessile, ascending-suberect, linear-lanceolate, 100–145 × 4–6 mm, acute, fleshy, glabrous, green, glaucous, midrib prominent below. Bracts linear-triangular, 2.5–8.5 mm long, purple. Pedicels ascending, 9–41 mm long, glabrous, purple. Sepals linear, 7.5–16.0 mm long, glabrous, green. Flowers axillary, single, with sweet-acidic scent reminiscent of overripe banana. Corolla tube 27–46 mm long, pale greenish-pink to deep purple with darker longitudinal stripes; basal inflation oblong-ovoid, 19–24 × 7–9 mm, glabrous, outside basally white, then purple or purple-green, with darker longitudinal stripes, inside cream-white with purple longitudinal stripes and furrows; cylindrical tube 9.5–22.0 mm long, 3 mm broad, straight, apically funnel-shaped, ca. 10 mm wide at mouth, glabrous, purple. Corolla lobes confluent with tube, free, 33.0– 44.5 mm in total length; corolla lobe bases trapeziform, replicate lengthwise, bow-shaped, then apically inclined and bundled forming a cage with five openings of ca. 5 × 3 mm, outside purple, inside cream-white with purple reticulation; corolla lobe tips arising from lobe bases, linear-filiform, replicate along entire length, basally connivent with densely verrucose surface and purple (sometimes white) clavate vibratile trichomes, then divaricately spreading and vibratile, inner surface densely villous with white trichomes up to 2 mm long, dark purple, outer surface glabrous, greenish. Gynostegium shortly stipitate, basally whitish, entirely glabrous. Gynostegial corona ca. 3.5 mm in diam.; interstaminal corona lobes joined at base forming cups, distally bifid with short, bulge-like lobules, cream-white mottled purple; staminal corona lobes connivent from humped bases, linear-oblanceolate and incumbent-erect over staminal column, ca. 3.0 × 0.5 mm, apically slightly recurved, purplish at base, apically cream-white tinged purple. Pollinarium with broadly ovoid pollinia each ca. 440 × 290 µm, yellow, insertion crest ca. 220 µm long, corpusculum clavate, distally oblate, ca. 270 µm long, ca. 90 µm broad, brown. Fruits and Seeds not seen.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Floral details of Ceropegia meveana. A–C, Variation in floral shape and colour. D, Floral bud. E, Withering flower. F, Leaves and pedicel of previous flower. G, Close up of corolla tube mouth and villous corolla lobes with vibratile trichomes. H, Close up of verrucose surface on basal part of corolla lobes tips. I, Bract. J, Pollinarium. Scale bars: 1 cm (A–F), 5 mm (G, I), 0.5 mm (H), 200 µm (J). Photographs by David Styles (A–G, I) and Annemarie Heiduk (H, J).

FIGURE 3. Comparison between Ceropegia meveana (left) and C. scabriflora (right). A, B, Flower in habitat. C, D, Gynostegium and corona. Scale bars: 1 cm (A, B), 0.5 mm (C, D). Photographs by David Styles (A, B) and Annemarie Heiduk (C, D).