Marsdenia cynanchoides Schltr.

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Photo: Warren McCleland
25 km south-east of Inhassoro

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Synonyms:	Gongronema taylori Sensu Bullock p.p. Marsdenia taylori sensu Mapaura & Timberlake
Common names:
Frequency:	Rare
Status:	Native
Description:	Slender woody climber up to c. 3 m high, growing from a cluster of fleshy fusiform roots; stems hairless or pubescent, corky below. Leaves oblong to elliptic, 3-12 cm long, hairless except for a few short hairs along the midrib above; petiole up to 2.5 cm long, pubescent on the upper surface. Inflorescences subsessile in extra-axillary false umbels, pedicels 3-5 mm long. Sepals lanceolate to suborbicular with a rounded apex, 1-2 mm long, hairless with ciliate margins. Flower buds with corolla lobes overlapping to the right. Corolla cream or green; tube 1-2 mm long, with a band of white hairs in the throat; lobes spreading, oblong with a rounded apex, 1-1.5 mm long, hairless outside, sometimes minutely papillose within beyond the tuft of long hairs in the throat. Follicles c. 7 cm long and 2 cm wide, smooth, hairless.
Notes:	This species has often be mistaken for Marsdenia taylori which replaces this species further North in Kenya and Tanzania. That species mainly differs by much shorter anther wings and a stipitate rather than subsessile gynostegium.
Derivation of specific name:	cynanchoides: resembling a Cynanchum, a different genus in Asclepiadoideae.
Habitat:	Mixed deciduous woodland or thicket on sandy or stony ground.
Altitude range:	20 - 700 m
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Southeastern Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Mozambique distribution:	N,Z,MS,GI
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:	Near Endemic
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Saturday 3 March 2018
Literature:	Darbyshire, I., Timberlake, J., Osborne, J., Rokni, S., Matimele, H., Langa. C., Datizua, C., de Sousa, C., Alves, T., Massingue, A., Hadj-Hammou, J., Dhanda, S., Shah, T., Wursten, B. (2019). The endemic plants of Mozambique: diversity and conservation status Phytotaxa 136 Page 80. Drummond, R.B. (1975). A list of trees, shrubs and woody climbers indigenous or naturalised in Rhodesia. Kirkia 10(1) Page 270. as Gongronema taylori Goyder, D., Harris, T., Masinde, S., Meve, U. & Venter, J. (2012). Apocynaceae (part 2) Flora of Tropical East Africa Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Goyder, D.J., Gilbert, M.G. & Venter, H.J.T. (2020). Apocynaceae (Part 2) Flora Zambesiaca 7(2) Pages 74 - 75. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 21. as Marsdenia taylori

Other sources of information about Marsdenia cynanchoides:

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Flora of Zimbabwe: Marsdenia cynanchoides

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Marsdenia cynanchoides
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Marsdenia cynanchoides
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Marsdenia cynanchoides
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Marsdenia cynanchoides
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Marsdenia cynanchoides
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Marsdenia cynanchoides
JSTOR Plant Science: Marsdenia cynanchoides
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Marsdenia cynanchoides
Plants of the World Online: Marsdenia cynanchoides
Tropicos: Marsdenia cynanchoides
Wikipedia: Marsdenia cynanchoides