Parachute plant: so weird, it's cool

Many plants are beautiful, some are plain, and others are plain weird. But weird can be oh so cool. I recently saw an example of that in my friend Marilynn’s garden. Check it out.

When looking at the flower from the top, not so unusual:

But from the side, it’s a different story:

The flower is like a gazebo with a roof!

The plant is a tangled mess of twining stems with fleshy leaves and those weird flowers:

Marilynn still had the label from the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory where she bought it many years ago:

Ceropegia sandersonii is a perennial succulent vine native to southeastern Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), thus called because some taxa were used as dog poison. Other members of this large family include adeniums, milkweeds, oleanders, pachypodiums, periwinkles, plumerias, and stapeliads.

The top petals of the funnel-shaped flowers form a roof, the bottom petals a tube, with windows in between. The flowers mimic the scent of a honeybee under attack (I’m not making this up!) to attract carnivorous flies. The flies get stuck in the tube, which is lined with downward pointing hairs. They’re trapped until the flower reaches the end of its life and the hairs weaken, about a day later. Then the flies are released, thoroughly covered with pollen, which they carry to another flower.

Based on the shape of the flowers, it’s easy to see why Ceropegia sandersonii is called the parachute plant, umbrella plant, or fountain flower. In cultivation, it’s long-lived as long as it’s protected from cold temperatures (40°F or below). Apparently, it makes a good houseplant.

No, I don’t have one yet, but after seeing Marilynn’s plant, I definitely want one.

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