Ceropegia

Ceropegia woodii

String of Hearts

Ceropegia woodii is a trailing, tuberous geophyte from southern Africa that stores water in its tubers and beaded stems, so it tolerates drought far better than wet roots. Give it bright indirect light and a gritty, fast-draining mix, and let the soil dry almost completely before watering. Water only when the top several centimetres are fully dry, roughly every 10 to 21 days, leaning toward the longer end in cooler or darker conditions.

Stapelia gigantea

Zulu Giant

Stapelia gigantea is a clumping succulent subshrub from the warm, seasonally dry grasslands and savannas of southern Africa, where it stores water in its soft, four-angled stems. Give it gritty, fast-draining mix and bright light with some protection from the harshest midday sun, and water only once the soil has dried out completely — when the stems begin to look slightly thin or wrinkled. It rots quickly if left sitting wet, so err toward dryness, especially in cooler months.

Orbea variegata

Carrion-Flower

Orbea variegata is a clump-forming succulent subshrub from the Cape Provinces of South Africa, where it grows in gritty, fast-draining ground under dry, bright conditions. Plant it in a sharply draining mineral mix and water deeply only once the soil has dried out completely, allowing the fleshy stems to approach dryness between waterings. It tolerates strong light, including some direct sun, but appreciates protection from the harshest midday rays, and it rots readily if kept wet.

Ceropegia sordida

Persian Carpet Flower

Famous for one thing: enormous star-shaped flowers patterned in yellow and maroon like an ornate carpet — among the most spectacular blooms in the succulent world, on sprawling, angular, spiny stems. Long known as Edithcolea grandis; the Bruyns revision folded it into Ceropegia.

Ceropegia paniculata subsp. scitula

Small Starfish Flower

A little carrion-flower relative that forms clusters of slender green stems and small star-shaped blooms marked in burgundy and cream — the wonderfully strange stapeliad look at miniature scale, with far less of the famous carrion scent. Horticulture still knows it as Stapelia paniculata var. scitula; the Bruyns revision moved the stapelias into Ceropegia.