Podanthes
(from pous, podos, a foot, and anthos, a flower; alluding to the flowers being borne on long pedicels). SYN. Obesia. ORD. Asclepiadeae. A genus comprising about eight species of stove shrubs, allied to Stapelia, confined to South Africa. Flowers rather large, solitary, twin or rarely sub-fasciculate; calyx with five acute segments; corolla pale or spotted above, broadly campanulate or at length rotate, the lobes valvate. Stems low, leafless, thick-fleshy, deeply sub-quadrangular; angles decussate and deeply few-toothed. The best-known species are those described below. For culture, see Stapelia.
P. geminata (twin).* fl. usually twin; corolla orange-yellow, dotted with blood-colour; segments lanceolate, acuminate, hairy inside, the margins revolute; outer corona five-lobed. May to November. Joints of branches proliferous, creeping, sub-oval, obscurely tetragonal, floriferous at the tops. 1795. Plant creeping. (B. M. 1326 and L. B. C. 300, under name of Stapelia geminata.) The correct name of this plant is Piaranthus geminatus. P. irrorata (bedewed). fl., corolla sulphur-coloured and spotted with blood-colour, more semi-quinquefld than in P. pulchra, the bottom blood-coloured; segments tipped with purple, lanceolate, acuminated; pedicels usually solitary. July to September. Branches numerous, erectish, decumbent. 1795. (L. B. C. 127, under name of Stapelia irrorata.) P. pulchra (fair). fl. on long, bent pedicels, twin, semi-quinquefld, corrugated; segments of corolla green outside and sulphur-coloured inside, deltoid, acuminated, with numerous dark brown warts; bottom of corolla dark brown, girded by a few glandular hairs. 1800. Plant weak and much branched, creeping.
P. p. verrucosa (warted). fl., corolla pale yellow, with dark purple marks; segments of the outer corona emarginate; the inner one of ovate, yellow corpuscles. Branches longer and thicker than in the type. (B. M. 786, under name of Stapelia verrucosa.)