Raphionacme galpinii

Raphionacme galpinii, Galpins raphio or in Afrikaans melkbol (milk bulb), belongs to the Apocynaceae family. A mature plant has a surprisingly large, sweet potato-like underground rootstock, sometimes partly exposed, from which the comparatively delicate stem and branches emerge above-ground.

The leaves are ovate to lanceolate, but variable in shape with downy surfaces and a prominent, whitish midrib. The flower clusters start off as hairy buds at the stem-tips. Open flowers have five green, oblong petals and spiny corona lobes over the tubes, hairy on the outside.

The plant is found in the east of South Africa from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal to Limpopo and to the west including Gauteng and North West.

The habitat is rocky grassland or in cracks of sheetrock. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Smith, et al, 2017; http://redlist.sanbi.org).