Ceropegia linearis

E. Mey.

Rosary vine, Chain of hearts

ApocynaceaeRootsShoots

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Stems - water, Root, Tubers

The stems are valued for their water content, and the roots and tubers are edible.

Where to Find It

It is a subtropical plant.

Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa*, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe,

Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A creeping and climbing herb. It is often grown as a hanging basket. The leaves can be 3-4 cm long.

How to Grow

Succeeds in full sun and in light shade. Requires a well-drained soil[. The amount of moisture available to the plant determines the colour and thickness of the leaves. Plants kept moist have thin, solid green leaves. When it gets drier, the leaves thicken and get their silvery coating - this is probably used to reflect some of the sun to decrease temperature stress.

Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe. Division of the small tubers which form along the stem at the leaf bases. These tubers can be planted to produce new vines - just press them into the soil, and keep moist but not wet. The tubers root more quickly if they are still attached to the mother plant. Once rooted and growing, the new plant can be easily severed from the parent.

Medicinal Uses

A decoction of leafy stems is taken to treat chest complaints.

Other Uses

The stem tubers are used as stock for grafting difficult stem succulents..

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Ceropegia linearis, also known as string-of-needles, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to Southern Africa. The popular houseplant Ceropegia woodii is sometimes treated as a subspecies of C. linearis, as C. linearis subsp. woodii. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.