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Climbing Hawthorn Bittertea

Gymnanthemum mespilifolium

Climbing Hawthorn Bittertea
Photo: Paul venter, CC BY-SA 4.0

Gymnanthemum mespilifolium is a sprawling, climbing woody vine (liane) from southern Africa, growing up to 15 cm thick. It is a fast pioneer in disturbed ground, cleared areas and forest edges, and is best suited to a warm, sunny spot with well-drained soil.

Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Light
Full sun, Part shade

About

Gymnanthemum mespilifolium (Greek gymnos = naked and anthos = flower, alluding to the lack of paleae on the receptacle - mespilifolium = leaf like that of Mespilus), is a sprawling woody liane up to 15 cm thick from Southern Africa occurring in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Western Cape. This species is found as a vigorous pioneer in abused or degraded habitats such as cleared areas and forest margins. The genus comprises some 43 species found in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Southern Asia, and introduced into Brazil.

Gymnanthemum was first described by Cassini in 1817, then included in Vernonia by Candolle in 1836 and Bentham in 1873 and finally resurrected by Robinson and Kahn in 1986 and 1999. The taxonomic limits of the genus are presently narrower than in 1999.

Other Gymnanthemum plants

Gymnanthemum extensum · Bitterteas · Bittertea

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gymnanthemum mespilifolium 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.

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