Stephanotis updates

I have added some updates to my original article on Stephanotis floribunda (warning: Too Much Information, now over 19,000 words). The pictures are from the first re-flowering of my Stephanotis since I got it.

Most of the updates come from this Open Access article that expands the genus Stephanotis. Previously Stephanotis was only found on the island of  Madagascar. Some of the new species now included in Stephanotis are found across Africa and Asia. Some of the authors are recognised internationally as the experts on the family Apocynaceae.

Liede-Schumann, S, Reuss, SJ, Meve, U, Gâteblé, G, Livshultz, T, Forster, PI, Wanntorp, L & Rodda, M (2022), "Phylogeny of Marsdenieae (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae) based on chloroplast and nuclear loci, with a conspectus of the genera" Taxon (2022) 71(4): 833-875     https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12713    Accessed 6/10/2022

Hoodia hybrid

I have been growing this plant since I received it in October 2020 under the name Trichocaulon flavum. That is an old name, that plant is now usually called Hoodia flava. It flowered last week and I now know that it is definitely not Hoodia flava. It appears to be a hybrid between two species of Hoodia.

A Citation

 

Ceropegia bulbosa, with edible leaves and tubers

much sought after in India. My photo from September.

I was looking up some descriptions of new species of Ceropegia on Friday night. I found one on Researchgate from 2015 for a species called Ceropegia terebriformis. The specific name terebriformis means "drill shaped" and refers to the tightly spiralled top of the corolla looking like a modern drill bit. It was only found once. The living plants they had collected grew very well for a while but all died. No uses were recorded.

The origin of the name Caralluma

Stapelia adscendens, from Plants of the Coast of Coromandel ¹ 

Picture file from the BHL Pro Flickr albums.

What is the origin of the name of the genus Caralluma? In short, we don't know. That will not stop me writing about it.

First, I will quote from Wikipedia. I wrote this part of the entry, so I think that it is allowable.

In 1795 William Roxburgh published the name Stapelia adscendens for a plant found in India. He commented that the name for the plant in the Telugu language was Car-allum and that the succulent branches are edible raw, though bitter and salty.¹ The name Caralluma was coined by Robert Brown for a new genus in an article published in 1811. At the time he only described one species in the genus, the plant that he renamed Caralluma adscendens.²

In 1996 Helmut Genaust published the suggestion that it was sensible to conclude that the generic name is derived from the Arabic phrase qahr al-luhum, meaning "wound in the flesh" or "abscess," referring to the floral odour. Genaust was unaware that the genus Caralluma existed east of Palestine. He specifically ruled out its existence in India, where it was first described and named. Genaust presumed that the name would have first been applied to Caralluma europaea in North Africa.³

So, it is clear that the name is from the Telugu language from southern India, but what does it mean? Neither Roxburgh nor Brown seem to have recorded that and did not give the spelling in Telugu script.

The origin of the name Ceropegia

Linnaeus named⁹ the genus Ceropegia in 1737 in his Genera plantarum.  Linnaeus referred to the description and picture of a plant in the Horti Malabarici as the plant for which the genus was created. In 1753 he named this as Ceropegia candelabrum.

Downloaded¹³ from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Open in a new tab to enlarge.

Above we have the iconotype of the Indian plant that Linnaeus named as Ceropegia candelabrum in 1753, as depicted¹³ in the Horti Malabarici of Henricum Rhede (or Reede) tot Drakestein published in 1689. The candelabrum bit gives it away when you see the way the flowers are arranged. Of course, some of you born after the invention of electric light may not have seen any candelabra or chandeliers.

There have been two possible explanations of the origin of the word Ceropegia. Linnaeus never explained it, as far as I know. 

The Beautiful Hoya

Hoya bella, the Beautiful Hoya

This beautiful plant may still be the most cultivated species of Hoya, 174 years after it was first collected by a European. Since the naming of the genus Hoya more than a hundred Hoya species have been made available for the amateur grower, out of 520 species now known. Other species of Hoya may be more spectacular but this one is beautiful, delightfully fragrant, compact and relatively easy to grow. 

Orbea variegata

This Orbea variegata flowered today and is a spectacular, peculiar and interesting flower. That does not stop it being an intense disappointment to me. I was sold it as a Huernia hystrix. Orbea variegata is the commonest and easiest to grow of the group of plants to which they both belong. I could have bought it from many shops that sell ornamental houseplants. 

Huernia hystrix is far harder to find and is a much sought-after and endangered herbal medicine in South Africa. 

I only spent £5 on it and a part of the postage costs. The other plants that came with it were the correct species. So it goes.

Edited to add: I have mentioned a little about the history of Orbea variegata in a new article on Huernia hystrix.

Belataky - Stephanotis

Stephanotis floribunda flowering in habitat in southeastern Madagascar.

Photo: © Nivo Rakotonirina from Tropicos

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

The Madagascar Jasmine is to retain its most well-known botanical name, but has changed its author. Stephanotis floribunda Jacques is the new combination accepted by Kew on their World Checklist of Selected Plant Families and on their Plants of the World Online.

The decision not to change the name to Marsdenia floribunda (C.Morren) Schltr. has come from the latest genetic studies. These studies (and 2022) have shown that Marsdenia and Stephanotis are distinct enough to deserve separate names. Both of these genera are in the tribe Marsdenieae of the Apocynaceae. There has been much discussion among botanists over the last two centuries regarding the exact divisions between the various genera of the Marsdenieae.

The change in author has occurred because I emailed Rafaël Govaerts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to point out that there was a publication earlier than the one that previously had been accepted as the earliest publication of the name with a proper description. The new combination has not yet been accepted by the International Plant Names Index, but they take their time over decisions.

UPDATE 14/03/2023: I was checking IPNI for something else and they have accepted the earlier description that I found. I am rather happy about this. They have an entry for Stephanotis floribunda Jacques, Ann. Soc. Hort. Paris 15(Livr. 83): 28 (1834) as well as two other origin dates (1835, 1837). The other two are given as isonyms, meaning they are the same name but not the original. The clincher is that they have used the 1834 version of the name as the basionym for the one they have as the current accepted name: Marsdenia floribunda (Jacques) Schltr., Symb. Antill. (Urban). 1(2): 275 (1899). I am sure they will also accept the resurrection of Stephanotis as a genus very soon, as the authors of the articles on restoring it are the leading authorities on that family of plants.

It might be a little thing for professional botanists who change plant names every day - but it has rather tickled me that I have left a tiny, insignificant alteration in the history of botany. So I decided to write an in-depth history of Stephanotis floribunda. I could not find any article online that did more than give growing tips and mention a few obvious facts about the plant.

There will not be many gardening tips in this piece. I would recommend following the growing advice from the Royal Horticultural Society if you are caring for a Stephanotis. I would also recommend that you don't buy a Stephanotis in mid-winter unless you can guarantee it won't get chilled on the way home or in the post. As I have learnt from my own experience this year.

This is one of my longer articles, this sentence bringing it to over 19,000 words. Chapter headings, linked for your convenience;
Malagasy Common Names
including Latakana ombelahy (first French encounter 1650ish)
Another French encounter (1770)
Third French encounter (1817)
Introduction to Europe
First Pictures
Neumann and Greenhouses
Louisa Lawrence
Edmund Butcher
Rapid popularity in Victorian Britain
Stephanotis floribunda Elvaston variety
Stephanotis floribunda "Polyanthum"?
Stephanotis floribunda "Variegata"
Other Colours and Species
New Species added to Stephanotis in 2022 
Flower structure
21st Century
Fragrance
Stephanotic acid
English Common Names
Origin of the botanical name
The Confusion of Marsdenia floribunda 
Alternative botanical names
References for names