Asclepias adscendens
(Schltr.) Schltr.
Pompom cartwheels
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) georgfritz, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Robert Archer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Robert Archer
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Robert Archer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Robert Archer
Description
A small herb. It grows 10-20 cm high. It branches at the base into several erect stems. The leaves are 5-18 cm long. They are narrowly sword shaped. They are rounded or heart shaped at the base. The flowers are in groups that occur singly at the top of the plant. There are 12-20 flowers in a group. The fruit are hollow pods 5 cm long and 1 cm wide.
Edible Uses
The leaves and fruit are edible.
Distribution
It is a tropical and subtropical plant. In South Africa it grows between 450-1,750 m above sea level.
Where It Grows
Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe,
Notes
Also put in the family Asclepiadaceae.
Synonyms
Also Known As
Umdzayi
References (5)
- Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
- Ogle & Grivetti, 1985,
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 61
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 20
- Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
