Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 69(2): 285-293. 2017 
doi: 10.26492/gbs69(2).2017-07 
285 
Ceropegia laotica (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae): 
the first new species of Ceropegia described from Laos 
M. Rodda 1 & U. Meve 2 
herbarium, Singapore Botanic Gardens, National Parks Board, 
1 Cluny Road, 259569 Singapore 
rodda.michele@gmail.com 
department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, 
95440 Bayreuth, Germany 
ulrich.meve @ uni-bayreuth.de 
ABSTRACT. A new species, Ceropegia laotica Rodda & Meve, from the Bolaven Plateau in 
southern Laos, is described and illustrated. It shows a twining habit, linear-lanceolate leaves 
and possesses small root tubers. The new species is compared with Ceropegia cochleata 
Kidyoo from Thailand. 
Keywords. Ceropegia cochleata, Ceropegia digitiformis, Ceropegieae, Indochinese Peninsula, 
Southeast Asia 
Introduction 
In the traditional, morphology-based circumscription of Ceropegia L. the genus includes 
only taxa possessing pitfall flowers that trap small visiting flies for 24 hours in funnel- 
shaped, basally inflated corollas. Molecular-based studies have shown, however, that 
the phylogeny of the terminal branch of the tribe Ceropegieae, the Stapeliinae, to which 
Ceropegia belongs, is complex. The other genera of Stapeliinae (. Brachystelma R.Br. 
and the stapeliads) are all nested and scattered through the Ceropegia tree, making 
Ceropegia multiply paraphyletic (Meve & Liede-Schumann, 2007; Surveswaran et 
al., 2009; Bruyns et al., 2015). These studies have documented that complex pitfall 
flowers - always thought to represent the peak of evolution in the Ceropegieae 
- have been independently lost several times during evolution to be replaced by 
open, radiate flowers. However, in order to prevent severe taxonomic instability in 
an extremely species-rich group (Stapeliinae comprises around 700 species), Meve 
& Liede-Schumann (2007) suggested that paraphyly in Ceropegia / Stapeliinae be 
accepted and that the “Ceropegia pitfall flower” be retained as a diagnostic character 
for Ceropegia. However, recently, Bruyns et al. (2017) proposed about 400 new 
names and combinations in Ceropegia in order to make it monophyletic. As long as 
the driving forces of the complex evolution in this group are not at least minimally 
understood, we prefer to retain the traditional classification, keeping Brachystelma and 
the stapeliad genera separate. There are around 210 “true” Ceropegia species of small 
erect or twining herbs which occur widely in the Old World tropics and subtropics of 
