Open AccessA new Ceropegia species from Yemen, and reconsideration of the status of C. arabica , C. barbigera and C. powysii (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae‐Ceropegieae)
Author(s) -
MEVE ULRICH,
MANGELSDORFF RALPH M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
botanical journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.872
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1095-8339
pISSN - 0024-4074
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2001.tb01111.x
Subject(s) - biology , apocynaceae , sensu , botany , taxonomy (biology) , eudicots , genus
A new species, Ceropegia yemenensis Meve & Mangelsdorff (Asclepiadoideae‐Ceropegieae), from the province of Damar in northern Yemen, is described and illustrated. The tiny twiner with fleshy roots shares some characters with C. ahmarensis and C. stenantha from East Africa. Including this new species, the flora of Yemen now contains 11 Ceropegia species. The taxonomic status of the highly variable Arabian stem‐succulent twiner Ceropegia arabica is reconsidered. A number of deviating forms have been described as distinct species (e.g. C. powysii and C. barbigera in Africa, C. superba in Arabia), or as varieties under C. arabica. Considering the more recently available material from East Africa which shows typical characters of C. arabica sensu lato and material from Yemen with typical features of C. powysii, C. barbigera is recognized as synomym of C. powysii , and C. powysii is reduced to varietal rank under C. arabica.