Useful Asclepiad Photos

I have uploaded my book to the Internet Archive. It is called Unfinished Notes on the Useful Asclepiads and comes in two volumes, Uses and References. It is the result of 16 years reading on all the uses that humans have found for members of the former plant family Asclepiadaceae. They are now in the Apocynaceae subfamilies Asclepiadoideae, Periplocoideae and Secamonoideae. 

I decided it would be better to post all the photos on here rather than fill the Internet Archive servers with a photo book. All of these photos are my own work. If you see some on Wikipedia, it is because I put them there. Some have featured on this blog before. Most will open out to a much bigger picture.

 

Apteranthes europaea

Cuttings.

Regrowth after pruning.

Apteranthes tuberculata

 I have an article about this species on this blog here, but it really needs updating.

Chongah for sale outside a Manchester grocer's shop in 2010.

 

370g of chongah.

 

A single hand of chongah. Squares approx. 1 cm.

 

A cutting grown from a piece of Chongah from 

Worldwide Foods in Bolton in 2026. 

Araujia sericifera

 

Bumblebee with many Araujia pollinia on foot and mouthparts.

I did not catch a good photo of it but the bumblebees were scraping the pollinia off their 

mouthparts with their feet. They were not poking their feet into the flowers.

 

Araujia sericifera fruit roasted. Delicious.

Asclepias syriaca

 

Asclepias syriaca is a robust plant that will reach almost 2 metres tall if fed and watered.

Lightly boiled fruit. Delicious.

The insides of slighter more mature pods, the shells were too chewy to eat 

but the seeds and fluff still tender and tasty.

Asclepias tuberosa

 

 

Note the crab spider waiting for pollinators.

The spelling mistake on the packet probably does not reflect on the 

quality of the product. Baldwins are an old and reliable herbal supplier. 

 

Boucerosia frerei (née Frerea indica)

I have a huge article on this species in two parts on this blog here and here.

 

Boucerosia indica

 

I haven't eaten this one yet. It is tiny and recently 

doused in pesticide by the exporter.

Calotropis procera

 

Caudanthera edulis

 

Some shoots burrow under the soil and eventually resurface.

 

Harvest from the smaller plant.

Harvest from the larger plant.

Chopped, stir-fried and served on top of baked potato. Delicious.

The same plant after 5 weeks regrowth.

Ceropegia bulbosa

 I have several mentions of this plant in articles on this blog here.

 

Ceropegia crassifolia

 

 

In hot weather, the flowers of this species sometimes open up like a normal flower.

 

Ceropegia juncea

 

Cynanchum registanense 

 

Seed.
 

 

 

Cynanchum rostellatum

I have a full article about this plant on this blog here. 

Cynanchum vanlessenii

Decalepis hamiltonii

 

Although sold as Hemidesmus indicus, I suspect this is the more 

commonly available and very similar Decalepis hamiltonii. 

Duvalia polita

 

Fockea edulis

 

Gymnema sylvestre

 

 

Hemidesmus indicus 

I believe these teabags from Sri Lanka were more likely to be Hemidesmus indicus than 

Decalepis hamiltonii, which is not found in Sri Lanka. It tasted much better than

the Indian one. Unfortunately, the second lot I got from this company was a 

herbal mix with spices and hibiscus, not Iramusu. 

Hoodia currorii?

 

The seed was sold as Hoodia macrantha which would now be called 

Hoodia currorii. I am waiting for it to flower before believing it. 

I have had Hoodia hybrids pretending to be species before.

 

Hoodia currorii ssp. lugardae

 

 

Hoodia flava hybrid

 

I bought this plant as Trichocaulon flavum, now called Hoodia flava. The 

small plant grew fast and flowered 14 months later. The flower showed it 

was clearly a hybrid, not Hoodia flava.

I had a taste when it was big enough but much younger than the above photo. Very strong, 

sweet liquoricy flavour with some bitterness. It reduced my appetite, 

which I didn't like as I love food. 

Hoya bella

No recorded uses as it has only been collected once. One of the most common ornamental Hoyas

used as houseplants worldwide. I did an in-depth article on it.

 Hoya carnosa

Hoya carnosa is also a widespread ornamental and houseplant but 

has some recorded medicinal uses.

 

Kushengia sinensis

 

Seeds of variegated Kushengia sinensis.

Seedlings of variegated Kushengia sinensis.

Leichhardtia australis 

I am hoping for flowers this year.

 

Tubers before cleaning. They were closely packed in the original plant pot.

Cooked tubers.

Mondia whitei

 

9 months from seed. One of several cases where my ambition

exceeded my growing space, usually huge tropical climbers. 

 

Orbea variegata

 

One of the brighter colour variations of the very variable species Orbea variegata.

 

Rhytidocaulon macrolobum

 

Stephanotis floribunda

 

Mostly used as an ornamental though it has one recorded medicinal 

use in Madagascar. I have an in-depth article here. 

 

Stephanotis volubilis

Leaves bought mail order, as received.

 

Leaves bought mail order, nice ones selected and lightly boiled.

Telosma cordata

 

It keeps growing but no flowers yet.

 

Vincetoxicum bungei

 

Now called Vincetoxicum bungei. Roots/rhizomes bought from a Traditional Chinese apothecary

as Cynanchum paniculatum, in Manchester's Chinatown in 2010. The squares are about 1 cm square.

 

Vincetoxicum hirundinaria

 

15th of June 2026 Manchester, UK

Unlike most on this page, this plant is poisonous. I had to grow it as it was the first Asclepias described by Linnaeus in 1745. It has been thought to be the asclepias of the Romans or ἀσκληπιάς of the Greeks,

 

Vincetoxicum nigrum