6887.000 Huernia R. Br.

Stems fleshy, glabrous, 4-5(-6)-angled, tubercled with rudimentary leaves arising from the centre of the tubercle, without stipules. Inflorescence a pedunculate cyme, often arising from the base of the stem. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla shape variable, with or without an annulus; 5-lobed, with 5 minor lobes in the sinuses; inside usually papillose or tuberculate, rarely smooth; margin without cilia. Corona of two rows, each of 5 lobes; inner and outer well separated vertically; outer lobes united to form a disk; inner lobes arising at the top of the staminal column, smooth, simple; usually with a transverse ridge or gibbosity at their base. Follicles erect, glabrous. Seeds with an apical tuft of hairs.

Comment: More recent phylogenetic evidence has led to the forming of a very broad concept of the genus Ceropegia including the genus Brachystelma and all known genera within the Stapeliae (Bruyns, P.V., Klak, C. & Hanáček, P., 2017). However we follow Goyder et Al. in Flora Zambesiaca 7(2), 2020 where the inclusion of the Stapeliad genera has not been accepted.

Worldwide: 64 species in tropical and South Africa; also Saoudi Arabia

Botswana: 5 taxa.