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Cynanchum ellipticum
Also called Monkeyrope, Monkeyrope Buckhorn
Excelsior (Cynanchum ellipticum) is a sprawling, semi-succulent climbing plant from southern Africa, grown mainly in warm, frost-free gardens or as a trailing or twining plant in dry, sunny spots. It needs good drainage and sparing water.
Cynanchum ellipticum is a South African climbing plant of the family Apocynaceae. It has slender stems and branches, exuding milky, bitter latex that is non-irritant. It occurs in coastal scrub from Cape Town as far north as Mozambique and further inland up to 1300 m, and may be found on flats or moderate slopes, in sand or between rocks, in indigenous forests and along forest margins and thickets, frequently occurring in disturbed habitats.
This sprawling twiner has opposite semi-succulent leaves 20–40 mm long, 10–20 mm wide, elliptic to oblong, broadly elliptic with a prominent tip (apiculate) and a ring-like thickening where the petioles join the stem. Helicoid cymes of tiny, white or cream flowers grow from the axils of the leaves, having a tubular corolla and being sweetly scented. The horn-shaped fruits or follicles contain club-shaped plumed seeds.
Cynanchum acidum · Stranglewort · Gulf coast swallow-wort · Holostemma Creeper · Cynanchum daltonii · Cynanchum gentryi · Cynanchum gracillimum · Cynanchum guehoi · Cynanchum haughtii · Cynanchum hooperianum · Honeyvine · Cynanchum macrolobum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cynanchum ellipticum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
