Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W.T.Aiton subsp. fruticosus

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Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp fruticosus

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Habit
20 Feb 2018

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Follicle and leaves
20 Feb 2018

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Flowers
20 Feb 2018

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Flowers
20 Feb 2018

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Follicles
20 Feb 2018

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Leaves and fruit
18 Jun 2013

Family:	Asclepiadaceae
Full name:	Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W.T.Aiton subsp. fruticosus
ID status:	Fairly certain
Afrikaans common name(s):	Gansie(s), Blaasoppies, Kapokbossie, Tontelbos, Melkbos, Tontelbossie, Wilde kapok
English common name(s):	Milkweed, Wild cotton, Firesticks, Narrow-leaved cotton-bush, Shrubby milkweed
Synonym(s):	Asclepias cornuta (Decne.) Cordem. Gomphocarpus cornutus Decne. (1838) Asclepias abyssinica (Decne.) N.E.Br. Gomphocarpus crinitus G.Bertol. Asclepias crinita (G.Bertol.) N.E.Br. Gomphocarpus frutescens E.Mey. Gomphocarpus verticillatus Turcz. (1848) Gomphocarpus angustifolius (Schweigg.) Link Asclepias angustifolia Schweigg. Gomphocarpus arachnoideus E.Fourn. Asclepias glabra Mill. Asclepias crassifolia Decne. Asclepias salicifolia Salisb.
Status:	Native
Description:	Shrubby perennial herb, usually branching from near the base. Stems woody near the base, densely pubescent. Leaves opposite, linear to linear-lanceolate, 4-12 cm long, leathery, more or less densely pubescent and with soft white hairs on the midrib and margins, pointed and mucronate at the apex; margin often rolled under. Flowers in extra-axillary, 4-12-flowered nodding umbels. Corolla reflexed, white or cream; corona lobes attached c. 1.5mm above the base of the staminal column, cream to green, more or less as tall as the column, laterally compressed. Follicle erect on a twisted pedicel, ovoid, inflated, up to 7 × 2.5 cm, distinctly beaked, more or less densely covered in soft bristles. (from Flora of Zimbabwe website) Shrubby perennial herb, up to c. 1.5 m tall. Stems erect, branched, woody near the base; young branches densely tomentose. Leaves opposite, linear, up to c. 12 cm long, tapering to a point at the apex, minutely pubescent above tomentose below; margin slightly rolled under. Flowers in extra-axillary, 3-6-flowered nodding umbels. Corolla lobes reflexed, yellow-brown or green, often tinged pink and tomentose on the outside. Corona lobes attached less than 1 mm above the base of the staminal column, white or cream, laterally compressed, as tall as the column. Follicle erect on a twisted pedicel, ovoid, tapering to a long pointed beak, sometimes subspherical without a beak, tomentose when young, soft bristles in lines along the surface. (from Flora of Zimbabwe website, Jan 2017) A shrub 3–10 ft. high; branches erect, puberulous; leaves more or less ascending; petiole 2–4 lin. long; blade 2–6 in. long, 2–9 lin. broad, linear or linear-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, mucronate, or rarely aristate, cuneate-acute at the base, with revolute margins, glabrous or minutely puberulous; umbels pedunculate, lateral at the nodes, racemose, 6–10-flowered; peduncles 0.75–1.5 in. long, pubescent or puberulous; bracts 3–4 lin. long, linear-subulate, puberulous, deciduous; pedicels 0.5– 0.75 in. long, puberulous; sepals 1.5–2 lin. long, lanceolate, acuminate, pubescent or puberulous; corolla-lobes reflexed, 3.5–4 lin. long, 2 lin. broad, ovate-oblong, obtuse, glabrous on both sides, usually but not always ciliate along one margin; corona-lobes arising about 0.5 lin. above the base of the staminal column and reaching its summit, erect, compressed-cucullate, subrectangular in side view, with the apical angles of the sides produced into recurving narrowly falcate teeth, rising considerably above the rest of the lobe, their tips incurved towards each other; margins of the sides narrowly winged outside; no tooth or horn within; follicles 2–3 in. long, ovoid, tapering into a beak, minutely tomentose and beset with bristles, which are nearly or quite glabrous. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Capensis) A shrub 3–10 ft. high; branches erect, pubescent or puberulous. Leaves more or less ascending; petiole 2–4 lin. long; blade 2–6 in. long, 2–9 lin. broad, linear to linear-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, mucronate, or rarely aristate, cuneate-acute at the base, narrowly re volute along the margins, glabrous or puberulous, especially on the midrib beneath. Umbels pedunculate, lateral at the nodes and terminal, 6–10-flowered; peduncles 0.75–1.5 in. long, pubescent; bracts 3–4 lin. long, linear, acuminate, deciduous; pedicels 0.5– 0.75 in. long, pubescent. Sepals 3 lin. long, lanceolate, acuminate, pubescent. Corolla 5-lobed nearly to the base, white; lobes reflexed, 4 lin. long, 2 lin. broad, ovate-oblong, obtuse, glabrous on both sides, usually ciliate along one margin, but sometimes without cilia. Coronal-lobes arising about 0.5 lin. above the base of the 2 lin. long staminal-column, and reaching to its summit, erect, complicate-cucullate, with the apical angles of the inflexed sides produced into recurving teeth, that rise considerably above the general level of the rest of the lobe and have their tips incurved towards each other; margins of the inflexed sides narrowly winged outside; no tooth or horn within. Follicles 2–3 in. long, ovate, attenuate into a beak, setose and minutely tomentose, but the setæ nearly or quite glabrous. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Tropical Africa) Multi-stemmed shrub, light brown stems branch higher up to form the crown. Evergreen and hardy. Often with watery or milky sap. Leaves are pale to mid-green, long and narrow. Flowers attractive, carried in pendulous clusters. Fruit is a inflated, pale green to light brown, papery follicle, covered with bristle-like hairs and narrowing into a curved tip, containing dark seeds. The seeds are attached from cotton-like silky hairs that aid in their dispersal. (from Grootfontein Herbarium website)
Link(s)	African Plant Database JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia
Content last updated:	18 Apr 2024