Asclepias longissima Goyder

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Photo: Nicholas Wightman
Tondwa GMA, Nsama District, Northern Province, Zambia

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Synonyms:	Gomphocarpus longissimus K. Schum.
Common names:
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Perennial herb with a single annual stem arising from a tuber; stems 0.5–1 m long, unbranched, erect, glabrous or minutely pubescent above, lacking leaves in upper parts. Leaves with petiole 1–5 mm long; lamina 13–27 × 0.5–1.5 cm, narrowly linear to linear-lanceolate, apex attenuate, the base cuneate or narrowly truncate, margins revolute, glabrous. Inflorescences extra-axillary with 2–4 flowers in a nodding umbel, peduncles 1–2.5 cm long, minutely pubescent; bracts filiform, pubescent; pedicels 1.5–2 cm long, minutely pubescent. Sepals 2–3 × 1 mm, triangular, acute, pubescent. Corolla strongly reflexed, purple outside, green tinged red within, pubescent on outer surface and towards margins within, inner surface papillate elsewhere; lobes 7–10 × 4–6 mm, ovate, acute, plane or weakly replicate. Corona lobes attached c.1 mm above the base of the staminal column, 4.5–7 × 3–5 mm, 1–1.5 times height of column, laterally compressed, complicate above, solid in lower half, quadrate, upper margins rounded and densely papillate, highest towards inner margin, pale green, sometimes tinged with purple.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	longissima: longest, presumably in reference to the long, narrow leaves.
Habitat:	On rocky ground in open Brachystegia woodland and grassland.
Altitude range:	500 - 1500 m
Flowering time:	Mar - Apr(-May)
Worldwide distribution:	Southwestern Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.
Malawi distribution:	N?
Growth form(s):	Perennial.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Literature:	Binns, B. (1968). A First Check List of the Herbaceous Flora of Malawi The Government Printer, Zomba, Malawi Page 19. Goyder, D.J. (2009). A synopsis of Asclepias (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae) in tropical Africa Kew Bulletin 64 Pages 375 - 376. (Includes a picture). Goyder, D.J., Gilbert, M.G. & Venter, H.J.T. (2020). Apocynaceae (Part 2) Flora Zambesiaca 7(2) Pages 264 - 265. (Includes a picture).

Other sources of information about Asclepias longissima:

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Flora of Mozambique: Asclepias longissima
Flora of Zambia: Asclepias longissima

External websites:

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