Asclepias palustris (K. Schum.) Schltr.

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Asclepias palustris

Photo: Penny English
Chelinda area just south of log house at old stables, Nyika National Park.

Asclepias palustris

Photo: Penny English
Chelinda area just south of log house at old stables, Nyika National Park.

Asclepias palustris

Photo: Penny English
Chelinda area just south of log house at old stables, Nyika National Park.

Asclepias palustris

Photo: Penny English
Chelinda area just south of log house at old stables, Nyika National Park.

Asclepias palustris

Photo: Penny English
Chelinda area just south of log house at old stables, Nyika National Park.

Asclepias palustris

Photo: Penny English
Chelinda area just south of log house at old stables, Nyika National Park.

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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms: Gomphocarpus cristatus Decne.
Gomphocarpus palustris K. Schum.
Trachycalymma cristatum (Decne.) Bullock
Common names:
Frequency:
Status: Native
Description:
Erect perennial with annual stems, up to 60 cm tall, growing from a vertical rootstock with lateral tubers. Stem with milky sap, mostly single, unbranched, densely pubescent with white spreading hairs. Leaves opposite, subsessile or very shortly petiolate, linear to lanceolate, 3-7 cm long with prominent veins and white spreading hairs above and on the veins below; margin entire, stiffly pubescent. Flowers in extra-axillary, 4-10-flowered, nodding umbels. Corolla white or greenish, tinged dull pink, particularly towards the apex on the outside, densely pubescent towards the apex outside, hairless on the inside or with minute papillae near the base. Corona lobes pouched with a rounded tip, appearing subspherical, white with a purple tip, the cavity of the lobe with a tooth, tipped with a dense crest of papillae; upper margins with a pair of triangular teeth. Fruit a single follicle, narrowly fusiform, c. 5 × 0.5 cm, erect on a straight pedicel, smooth, densely pubescent.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name: palustris: swampy or marshy, in reference to its typical habitat
Habitat: In montane and seasonally waterlogged grassland, occasionally in open woodland.
Altitude range: 1200 - 2600 m
Flowering time:Oct - Jan
Worldwide distribution: Scattered in tropical Africa from Nigeria to Uganda in the north, and Angola to Zimbabwe in the south.
Malawi distribution: N,S
Growth form(s): Perennial.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters: Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated: Tuesday 6 October 2020
Literature:

Baumann, G. (2005). Photographic Guide to Wildflowers of Malawi Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi Pages 100 - 101. as Trachycalymma cristatum (Includes a picture).

Binns, B. (1968). A First Check List of the Herbaceous Flora of Malawi The Government Printer, Zomba, Malawi Page 20. also as Gomphocarpus palustris

Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 75. as Trachycalymma cristatum

Goyder, D.J. (2001). A revision of the tropical African genus Trachycalymma (K. Schum.) Bullock Kew Bulletin 56 Pages 134 - 137. as Trachycalymma cristatum (Includes a picture).

Goyder, D.J. (2009). A synopsis of Asclepias (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae) in tropical Africa Kew Bulletin 64 Pages 381 - 383.

Goyder, D.J., Gilbert, M.G. & Venter, H.J.T. (2020). Apocynaceae (Part 2) Flora Zambesiaca 7(2) Pages 268 - 269. (Includes a picture).

Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 22. as Trachycalymma cristatum

Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A Checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mount Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34 National Botanic Garden of Belgium Page 48. Trachycalymma cristatum

Wursten, B., Timberlake, J. & Darbyshire, I. (2017). The Chimanimani Mountains: an updated checklist. Kirkia 19(1) Page 88.

Other sources of information about Asclepias palustris:

Our websites:

Flora of Mozambique: Asclepias palustris
Flora of Zambia: Asclepias palustris
Flora of Zimbabwe: Asclepias palustris

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Asclepias palustris
African Plant Database: Asclepias palustris
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Asclepias palustris
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Asclepias palustris
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Asclepias palustris
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Asclepias palustris
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Asclepias palustris
JSTOR Plant Science: Asclepias palustris
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Asclepias palustris
Plants of the World Online: Asclepias palustris
Tropicos: Asclepias palustris
Wikipedia: Asclepias palustris


Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Malawi: Species information: Asclepias palustris.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=145790, retrieved 28 March 2024

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