Ceropegia dichotoma is a flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 in the genus Ceropegia

Ceropegia

Ceropegia is a genus of plants within the family Apocynaceae. It was named by Carl Linnaeus, who first described this genus in volume 1 of his Species plantarum, which appeared in 1753. Linnaeus thought that the flowers looked like a fountain of wax. From this the scientific name was derived:...

(Apocynaceae

Apocynaceae

The Apocynaceae or dogbane family is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas.Many species are tall trees found in tropical rainforests, and most are from the tropics and subtropics, but some grow in tropical dry, xeric environments. There are also perennial herbs...

). It is endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to the Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

, where it grows on Tenerife

Tenerife

Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...

 (Macizo de Anaga

Macizo de Anaga

Macizo de Anaga is a mountain range in the northeastern part of the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The highest point is 1,024 m . It extends to the Punta de Anaga in the northeast up to Cruz del Carmen in the southwest. Anaga features the mountain points of Bichuelo, Anambro,...

, Buenavista del Norte

Buenavista del Norte

Buenavista del Norte is a municipality and town on the north coast of Tenerife. It is located on the TF42 Road about 75 km west of the capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife , and 65km from Tenerife North Airport....

 and Barranco del Infierno in Adeje), El Hierro

El Hierro

El Hierro, nicknamed Isla del Meridiano , is the smallest and farthest south and west of the Canary Islands , in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a population of 10,162 .- Name :The name El Hierro, although phonetically identical to the Spanish word for 'iron', is generally thought...

, La Gomera

La Gomera

La Gomera is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. In area, it is the second-smallest of the seven main islands of this group.- Political organization :...

, and La Palma

La Palma

La Palma is the most north-westerly of the Canary Islands. La Palma has an area of 706 km2 making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands...

 in the Tabaibal-Cardonal zone at up to about 600 m altitude. It was first described in 1812.

It can grow up to 1.2 m in height, and is abundantly in terrains with good drainage in grainy soil and plenty of sun and prolonged dry climate. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s are grouped from two to seven at the end of the trunk; each flower 3 cm long, tubular, pale yellow, with five narrow lobes joined at the tip; flowering is in autumn and winter. The fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 is a pair of large horn-shaped capsules

Capsule (fruit)

In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...

 up to 12 cm long.

Uses

The plant is used as an ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

 in arid gardens. It requires hot conditions to grow well.

It is closely related to Ceropegia fusca

Ceropegia fusca

Ceropegia fusca is a flowering plant in the genus Ceropegia . It is endemic to the Canary Islands, where it grows on Tenerife , Gran Canaria, and La Palma in the Tabaibal-Cardonal zone at up to about 600 m altitude.-Description:The Ceropegia fusca plant forms erect woody stems reaching to 1.5 m...

.

External links

• Pérez, M. Á. C. (1999). Native Flora of the Canary Islands. Everest, León. ISBN 84-241-3555-5.
• Ceropegia dichotoma and other plants in Tenerife