Hi Jim, Okay, you forced me to go through my photos from last November that have been languishing and unappreciated. The asclepiad vine in question looks indeed to be some sort of Microloma, as suggested by Tim. I had never heard of it before, so hats off to him for the tentative ID, probably correct as M. sagittatum. The form I encountered in seed and flower at De Rust is actually closer to pink than red. It was entwined around itself and a pachypodium, growing in a scrub environment to the south of town in company with aloes, haworthias (my prime goal), and the odd exotic opuntia. <http://home.comcast.net/~rrherold/SA2008/…> Closer view: <http://home.comcast.net/~rrherold/SA2008/…> I encountered a similar plant in flower, but not in seed, near Daskop, about 20 miles south of De Rust. This one had a redder flower, and was a bit more floriferous. <http://home.comcast.net/~rrherold/SA2008/…> Lousy picture that shows multiple clusters of flowers: <http://home.comcast.net/~rrherold/SA2008/…> As an aside, these photos have longitude/latitude information embedded in their EXIF tags. Use a program like IrfanView (free, http://www.irfanview.com/) to see these tags, and click on the button under information and it will show you the location in Google Earth. All accurate to within about 10 or 20 feet. I planted a few seeds here back in May, and they germinated readily. The seedlings are about four inches tall now, looking decidedly vinous. I doubt if I have anywhere near enough sun to make them flower. The vines in SA have only a few, tiny leaves, and obviously do most of their photosynthesis in their stem tissue. I'm guessing they must be evergreen, and from their location probably have a few degrees of frost hardiness but not much more. Does that answer your question?? --Roy James Waddick wrote: > Dear Roy Herold, > Once again you have piqued my interest. You often donate some > of the most interesting items! > >> The latest from the BX 209: 32. Asclepiad vine De Rust, >> bright red flowers, scrambles over shrubs. >> Sorry if it's not a geophyte... > > I am not an expert on the Asclepiadaceae, but I do know there > are some quite variable plants there from shrubs to vines to > succulents and some with dazzling colors, but this combo of vine and > bright red flowers keeps me guessing. > > Do you have kind of ID? tender? Succulent? Give > me some hints or a picture somewhere. > > Thanks Jim W.
