Ceropegia Ampliata - Bushmans Pipe (Asclepiadaceae)

Ceropegia ampliata is a perennial twiner or scrambler with a succulent stem arising from a fleshy, tuberous rootstock. Plants occasionally branch at the nodes and can grow up to 2 m and more in length. The stems are hairless and sometimes have longitudinal grooves. The lovely plants have fleshy tuft roots from germinating seed or fibrous roots form at the nodes where the stem touches the soil surface. Therefore leaves are borne on terminal growth; they're very small, up to about 3 mm long, and are lanceolate or heart-shaped. The leaves are shed early and the stem is the main organ used for photosynthesis. Bushman's pipe is commonly found on dry, stony hillsides, twining in other vegetation. The plant is found in the Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and southern parts of the Western Cape, extending northwards as far as Tanzania. It also occurs in Madagascar.