The striking Ceropegia sp. 1

Irony of ironies: this is the very first Philippine Ceropegia species I have seen and yet it's the one I haven't created a post for, until now. This is a plant I have been calling Ceropegia sp. 1 and was first detected by a German friend, Ravan Schneider, who used to reside in Mindoro. Ravan found it in shady, quite damp forests at an altitude of about 300 m, of course growing as a vine, but can also creep on the forest floor, where they develop much larger leaves, possibly as an adaptation to catch more sunlight.

Of the three Philippine Ceropegia species that I maintain (plus one variant), this is the most attractive and unusual.

The blooms of Ceropegia sp. 1 are cream-colored with reddish-brown, irregularly-shaped spots distributed from about the upper half of the corolla tube. The inner margins of the corolla tube are green suffused with brown, and the apices are blackish-brown, tipped with fine, silky trichomes. These trichomes are unknown in any other Philippine species that I know of, so far.

The leaves have wavy margins and are overlayed with bronzy tint, particularly when still young.

Flower cross-section.

Note the spiky trichomes adorning each of the outer corona lobes.

Due to its prevalence in the shade in its natural habitat, I kept it accordingly in a similar situation where it sulked- for many months! Until one day I got tired of a slow-growing, pathetic-looking plant and moved it to a more exposed location, where the stems almost immediately lengthened and in a few months, started producing buds. Like many Ceropegia species, this one is a generous bloomer- once it starts flowering, you can enjoy the unusual flowers for several months more 😉

In comparison to my other Philippine species, this one has proven to be the most tricky to root from cuttings. The stems are thin in comparison, which means that it has fewer water and nutrient reserves. I also have tried rooting the cuttings in water, but heck, sometimes the cuttings will turn into mush although those that make it does produce quite a copious amounts of roots. Once the cuttings have passed the rooting stage, the new plants are easy to grow- but you will need quite some space for it as it is a rampant climber, though seemingly less aggressive than Ceropegia sp. 2. Still, be aware that a large, flowering plant will often be sullen if you cut the flowering shoots to be used as propagation materials. Don't expect flowers for many weeks, even months, after that. Best time to take cuttings is while the plant hasn't produced buds yet, but flowering, of course, will be delayed which can be annoying if you're impatient.

Blooms, blooms, and more blooms.

Photographed in situ. Bad photo, I know.

Ceropegia sp. 1 is rare in cultivation, and since I started introducing it a few years ago, still only relatively few people have it, and even those who have a soft spot for weirdos like Amorphophallus and carnivorous plants do not have it, or at least have not shown any interest in it which is a crying shame because these people are definitely missing out! Lately though, the plant has caught the attention of some who keep hoyas and succulents which makes sense because these plants belong to the same family as Hoya and stapeliads (family Apocynaceae)- ceropegias make fine and unusual additions without straying far from the same family!

This looks like a mutant eggplant entering puberty 😁