This plant has moderately succulent leaves on a slender climbing vine. The flowers are very interesting, they don't fully open for about two days. On the first day the bud will split forming an elongated cage at the top of the blossom.
This plant is native to South Africa ( Transvaal, Natal, Cape Province), Swaziland, and Namibia and has been listed since 1895.
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This plant has moderately succulent leaves on a slender climbing vine. The flowers are very interesting, they don't fully open for about two days. On the first day the bud will split forming an elongated cage at the top of the blossom. |
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On the second day, the cage opens even more shaping the cage into a an open sphere with a flat top that has five teardrop shaped wells in it, arranged to form a star. The whole flower takes on an architectural bar-bell shape 1 1/2" to 2" long. |
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This plant has thick white fleshy roots. The vining part of the plant dies down to and about an inch below the surface in winter. I have almost thrown plants out because I thought there was nothing but dry soil in the pot. It's good to always shake the soil out before throwing out apparently empty pots. It has just turned April and I see little bits of growth on the crown of my crassifolia roots.