Sarcostemma
Sarcostemma is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. The name is derived from the Greek words σαρκὸς (sarkos), meaning "flesh," and στέμμα (stemma), meaning "garland".[2] Members of the genus are known generally as climbing milkweeds or caustic bushes. They are found across Africa and tropical Asia, in Australia, and in parts of North America. These plants are perennial flowering shrubs with trailing vines or lianas. They are often adapted to heat and/or desert conditions. Some have few or no leaves and photosynthesize in the tissues of the green stems. The soft stems are filled with a milky white latex that is poisonous and caustic in some species. The flowers have a ring of thick tissue at the base which extends into hollow spherical appendages within the flower corolla.
Sarcostemma | |
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Sarcostemma viminale | |
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Tribe: | Asclepiadeae |
Subtribe: | Cynanchinae |
Genus: | Sarcostemma |
![](../I/Sarcostemma_viminale_shrub.jpg.webp)
Taxonomy
The taxonomic status of this genus is contested.
The genus Sarcostemma has been shown to be nested within the genus Cynanchum, and in 2012 Sarcostemma was put into synonymy with Cynanchum.[3][4] Thus Sarcostemma viminale has been renamed Cynanchum viminale. However this change has not been accepted by all taxonomists and the name Sarcostemma remains in use by a minority.[5]
- Species[6]
- Sarcostemma acidum (Roxb.) Voigt - S China, India, Nepal, N Indochina[7]
- Sarcostemma andinum (Ball) R.W. Holm. - Peru
- Sarcostemma angustissima R.W.Holm - Galápagos
- Sarcostemma arenarium Decne. ex Benth. - Baja California Sur
- Sarcostemma bilobum Hook. & Arn. - Guerrero in Mexico
- Sarcostemma brunonianum Wight. & Arn. - Sri Lanka
- Sarcostemma clausum (Jacq.) Schult. - Florida; much of Latin America + West Indies
- Sarcostemma crispum Benth. - Aguascalientes in Mexico
- Sarcostemma cynanchoides Decne. - Coahuila in Mexico
- Sarcostemma elegans Decne. - Mexico
- Sarcostemma glaucum Kunth - Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Peru
- Sarcostemma hirtellum (A.Gray) R.W.Holm - California, Arizona, Nevada
- Sarcostemma lindenianum Decne. - Honduras, Yucatán
- Sarcostemma lobatum Waterf. - Oklahoma
- Sarcostemma madagascariense Desc. - Madagascar
- Sarcostemma pearsonii N.E.Br. - Namibia
- Sarcostemma refractum (Donn. Sm.) L.O. Williams - Chiapas, Guatemala
- Sarcostemma secamone (L.) Bennett - India
- Sarcostemma stocksii Hook.f. - Pakistan
- Sarcostemma torreyi (A. Gray) Woodson - Texas, NE Mexico
- Sarcostemma welwitschii Hiern. - Angola
- Formerly included[6]
moved to other genera (Cynanchum, Funastrum, Leptadenia, Philibertia, Tetraphysa)
- S. antsiranense, syn of Cynanchum antsiranense
- S. aphyllum, syn of Cynanchum viminale
- S. campanulatum, syn of Philibertia campanulata
- S. carpophylloides, syn of Funastrum gracile
- S. decorsei, syn of Cynanchum decorsei
- S. donianum, syn of Philibertia gilliesii
- S. elachistemmoides, syn of Cynanchum elachistemmoides
- S. esculentum, syn of Oxystelma esculentum
- S. flavum, syn of Funastrum flavum
- S. gilliesii, syn of Philibertia gilliesii
- S. gracile, syn of Funastrum gracile
- S. grandiflorum, syn of Philibertia gilliesii
- S. hastatum, syn of Philibertia solanoides
- S. implicatum, syn of Cynanchum implicatum
- S. incanum, syn of Philibertia gilliesii
- S. insigne, syn of Cynanchum insigne
- S. lehmannii, syn of Tetraphysa lehmannii
- S. lysimachioides, syn of Philibertia lysimachioides
- S. marsupiflorum, syn of Philibertia solanoides
- S. mauritianum, syn of Cynanchum luteifluens
- S. membranaceum, syn of Cynanchum membranaceum
- S. mulanjense, syn of Cynanchum viminale subsp. mulanjense
- S. odontolepis, syn of Cynanchum viminale subsp. odontolepis
- S. odoratum, syn of Funastrum odoratum
- S. oresbium, syn of Cynanchum oresbium
- S. pannosum, syn of Funastrum pannosum
- S. pyrotechnicum, syn of Leptadenia pyrotechnica
- S. quadriflorum, syn of Philibertia solanoides
- S. resiliens, syn of Cynanchum resiliens
- S. rotundifolium, syn of Funastrum pannosum
- S. solanoides, syn of Philibertia solanoides
- S. stipitaceum, syn of Cynanchum viminale subsp. stipitaceum
- S. stipitatum, syn of Philibertia stipitata
- S. stoloniferum, syn of Cynanchum stoloniferum
- S. tetrapterum, syn of Cynanchum viminale
- S. tomentellum, syn of Funastrum pannosum
- S. trichopetalum, syn of Funastrum trichopetalum
- S. vailiae, syn of Philibertia picta
- S. vanlessenii, syn of Cynanchum vanlessenii
- S. variifolium, syn of Philibertia solanoides
- S. viminale, syn of Cynanchum viminale
References
- "Genus: Sarcostemma R. Br". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2005-11-28. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
- Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. 4 R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p. 2388. ISBN 978-0-8493-2678-3.
- Goyder, D.J 2008 Nomenclatural changes resulting from the transfer of tropical African Sarcostemma to Cynanchum (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae) Kew Bulletin 63:3
- Ulrich Meve, Sigrid Liede-Schumann 2012. Taxonomic dissolution of Sarcostemma (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae). Kew Bulletin 67:4
- Schmelzer, G. H. ; Gurib-Fakim, A. ; Arroo, R. R. J. ; Bosch, C. H. ; de Ruijter, A. ; Simmonds, M. S. J. 2008 “Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, Volume 11: Medicinal Plants 1” Backhuys Publishers, Wageningen, Netherlands.
- The Plant List, Sarcostemma
- Flora of China, Vol. 16 Page 202 肉珊瑚 rou shan hu Sarcostemma acidum (Roxburgh) Voigt. 1845. Hort. Suburb. Calcutt., p. 542.
External links
Media related to Sarcostemma at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Sarcostemma at Wikispecies