CEROPEGIA ELLIPTICA

This member of the Asclepiadaceae* family was given this name by Peter Vincent Bruyns in 2018. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan, growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to five centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to ten centimetres in height. The flowers are deep maroon and green. Peter Vincent Bruyns had to change the name from Ceropegia linearior, as it was already used.

The genera name is from the Greek word keropegion meaning 'candelabrum', because Linnaeus thought that the flowers looked like candles. The species name elliptica referring to the shape of the caudex. *)Accordantly to the latest taxonomic system; APG IV 2016, Asclepiadaceae is now part of the Apocynaceae.