Asclepias gibba

Asclepias gibba, commonly known as the humped turret-flower, is an erect to decumbent perennial, branching at the base and commonly reaching heights around 30 cm. The annual stems are finely hairy.

The simple, opposite and short-stalked to almost stalkless leaves are linear, narrowly tapering to acutely pointed tips. The blades are green, yellow-green or blue-green, channelled on top, the margins hairy. Leaf dimensions are from 1 cm to 10 cm long and from 1 mm to 6 mm wide.

Up to eight flowers grow in a stem-tip inflorescence, facing up in about the same level. The five narrowly pointed sepals of each flower are inconspicuous below the petals. The five spreading petals form a star-shape, in picture only one flower having reached that stage. Green on the outside with whitish margins and pointed tips, the insides are greyish mauve or greenish. The petal lobes are up to 12 mm long and 5 mm wide. The five corona lobes are narrow and erect, taller than the staminal column in their midst. Flowering happens in November.

The species distribution is in the east of South Africa, from the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State to all the provinces north of the Vaal River, as well as some neighbouring countries. The photo was taken in Mpumalanga.

The habitat is mainly grassland and thornveld. The habitat population is deemed of least concern (Germishuizen and Clarke, 2003; Pooley, 1998; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).