Since a few years I'm also interested in Asclepiads, mainly Stapelia, Huernia and Ceropegia. Next year I will try to keep some Brachystelma species, but they seem to be quite difficult to keep alive for more than 2-3 years, but we will see.

Here are some pictures of some of my plants and a list of species I have at this moment.

Stapelia gigantea
Stapelia variegata
Stapelia leendertziae
Stapelia hirsuta
Stapelia sp, Niemandsdorp (South Africa)
Stapelia comparibilis
Stapelia flavopurpurea
Stapelia gettleffii
Stapelia pillansii
Caralluma sp. "Tanzania", possibly C. arachnoidea
Ceropegia distincta
Ceropegia stapeliiformis (normal form)
Ceropegia stapeliiformis clone 1 "yellow-brown" small flowers
Ceropegia stapeliiformis clone 2 "grey"
Ceropegia dichotoma
Ceropegia radicans
Ceropegia haygardtii
Huernia quinata
Huernia quinta
Huernia skiata (I think this is the same as H. quinta)
Huernia longituba
Huernia hislopii
Huernia aspera
Huernia macrocarpa
Huernia laevis
Huernia loeseneriana
Huernia piersii
Huernia pillansii
Huernia procumbus
Frerea indica
And several species I don't know which one it is.


Stapelia hirsuta



Stapelia leendertziae



Stapelia sp. "Niemandsdorp" (Zuid Afrika), unknown species



Huernia macrocarpa





Huernia aspera



Stapelianthus madagascariensis




Caralluma sp. "Tanzania", possibly C. arachnoidea



Ceropegia sandersonii







Ceropegia radicans



Stapelia gigantea flowering

4 September



30 September



This post has been edited by Willem Eijer on December 16, 2009 07:46 pm

10 October





One day later





Huernia aspera



That's it for now, more next spring hopefully.

Still searching for some species.

This post has been edited by Willem Eijer on December 16, 2009 07:46 pm

Time for an update

Since a few months we have a greenhouse so collecting could start again.

Few weeks ago I bought the following species

Quaqua mamillaris
Caralluma hesperidum
Stapelianthus decaryi
Tavaresia barklyi
Caralluma dummeri
Stapelianthus madagaskariensis (second plant)
Stapelia sp. "Niemandsdorp" RSA (second plant)
10 species of Ceropegia, C. armandii, C. stapeliiformis, C. woodii, C. linearis, C. simoneae, C. sandersonii, and some other species I forgot the name of.
Huernia pendurata
Huernia booleana
Stapelia speciosis
Stultitia hardyi
Echidnopsis cereiformis (red-form, see below)

Not the best pictures, but it gives an idea, tiny flowers



Crop


Bought these today

Caralluma lugardi
Stapelia hirsuta PHEL1296 (different locality)
Stapelia leendertziae
Orbea hadimelicolea
Duvalia sp. IB7445
Huernia sp. (don't know the species yet, but it has seedpods, so I bought it and see what it is)
Ceropegia stapeliiformis (big plant)
And a Dorstenia hildebrandtii

Few pictures

Caralluma lugardi



Stapelia hirsuta PHEL1296



Stapelia leendertziae



Orbea hadimelicolea



Duvalia sp. IB7445





Huernia sp. with seedpods



Ceropegia stapeliiformis, big plant allready



Detail





Dorstenia hildebrandtii

What a fascinating collection of plants. I've never seen half of those genera, let alone the speces you have. Awesome!

I think Ceropegia sandersonii is perhaps the most alien looking plant I've ever seen.

I like Brachystelma a lot too Willem, the two species i had but both flowered and grew well for me but died after their second winter, i suspect from fusarium or a other pathogen as I had some black spots on some mideast stapeliads the same year.

But i don't think il be adding many more Asclepiads until i have a frost free green house i'v pretty much run out of space, I did get a few Ceropegia cuttings last year along with Hoya's most of which are doing well.

Will order some Brachystelma's soon. I know they're really hard to keep alive for a period of time, but at least I want to give it a try. Also trying to get some Pseudolithos, some Huernia's and some more Ceropegia's.

Whitch species of Brachystelma did you have Frylock, I'm thinking of getting B. maritae, B. filifolium, B. barberae, if I can find them. I know Ernst Specks sells some species. And how did you keep them, placement, soil and watering?

Brachystelma bracteolatum and Brachystelma buchananii were the two i had Willem both grown with the tubers exposed as much as possible and almost no water in the colder months, but I have feeling being tropical African they would have faired better grown under lights and watered all year round.

If do them again and there not any of the South African species i will try growing under controlled conditions not a greenhouse or windowsill, B. buchananii im sure to grow again sometime very nice flowers i did post some flower pictures from it a few years back they should still be here somewere.

Cheers Bill.

If I get them (Brachystelma) they will be kept in our greenhouse, which has condictions suitable for South(ern) Africa species. But still they're very difficult to keep for a longer period of time.

From what I have heard is that they need to be kept cooler in winter, around 14 degrees celsius and dry. In summer moderate watering and letting them dry out between watering. And lots of sunlight. But still they like rotting more then flowering.

That B. buchananii is also very nice.

Best regards Willem

This post has been edited by Willem Eijer on June 23, 2010 10:30 am

Few new pictures

Orbea hadimelicolea flowering at the moment, +/- 6 cm



corona



Stapelia hirsuta PHEL1269



Huernia booleana



Ceropegia stapeliiformis ssp. stapeliiformis



Few others starting to get buds. Also ordered some new plants today, some really really species

How did you discover and get into this group btw? Just wondering, I'm into carnivores myself, but always interested in how other lunatics get obsessed with certain groups of plants...you start with a couple then later it's like 200 and suddenly the house is more of a greenhouse with human pests living inside!

My dad used to have some cacti and a few succulents. Read some of his books and got interested in the Asclepiad group, this was about 15 years ago. 5 years ago I started to collect Stapeliads and since 2 years it got a bit out of hand, even my dad started keeping cacti again. That's why we got a greenhouse. My mom likes some of the Ceropegia species, so she has of them in the windowsills.

So all in all it's my dad's fault

Carnivorous plants are very nice too, but I really needed to draw a line and not to keep too many different kind of plants. But still like to watch

Overview how it looked like 2 weeks ago. New update soon

One of my dad's Pelecyphora species.















This post has been edited by Willem Eijer on July 01, 2010 03:07 pm

Another week later, so here's a small update

Duvalia sp. IB74453 flower open for a few hours, the flower petals are allready curling.



Stapelia hirsuta PHEL1296 bud



Huernia booleana bud



Ceropegia stapeliiformis bud, only a week to go I think before the first flower opens, more then 20 to go

Another week, new update

Stapelia hirsuta flower starts to open



Hour later, fully opened and the flies were already flying around.







Huernia boleana, really nice flower







Duvalia sp. still flowering.



Caralluma arachnoidea, underside flower



Ceropegia stapeliiformis, flower not fully open yet, a lot more flowers to come



Open



Got a few new plants, some really really nice species

Brachystelma filifolium RSA, Nelspruit
Brachystelma maritae East Africa
Echidnopsis repens Tanzania, Kilimanjaro Province
Frerea indica India
Huernia archeri, D.P. 8888 Kenya, Shimba Hills
Huernia echidnopsioides, JIL 204 RSA, Grootrivier Pass
Huernia pillansii × Duvalia caespitosa Natural Hybrid
Huernia praestans, IB 7580 RSA, Joubertskop
Huernia saudi-arabica, TM KSA130c/6 Saudi Arabia
Huernia thueretii, IB 8549 RSA, Dyam-Dyam
Huernia sp. aff. oculata Angola, NE of Tombua (so happy to have this species, quite rare in culture)

Another week, new update. Got a really nice package a few days ago

Frerea indica, one of the few Asclepiad species from India





Echidnopsis repens (new)





Huernia echidnopsioides (new)



Huernia thurettii (new)



Huernia sp. aff. oculata, really happy to have this species, quite rare in the hobby (new)



Huernia preastens (new)



Huernia macrocarpa





Huernia boleana, again because it's such a nice species







Overview picture of the new species

Brachystelma maritae, rare in the hobby, really difficult to keep alive for a longer period of time, they like rotting more then living.



Brachystelma filifolium, same as B. maritae

[IMG]http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/6940/img30]

Ceropegia stapeliiformis,







That's it for this time. A lot more to come

Got a really nica package last friday, some really interesting species.

Larryleachia marlothii (16km van Helmeringshausen RSA)



Larryleachia picta (near Pofadder RSA)



Echidnopsis bihendulensis



Tromotriche aperta, amazing flowers



Some pictures of plants flowering at the moment, a lot more to come

Quaqua mammilaris







Ceropegia woodii, already flowering, normally they start in early autumn.



Another very beautiful species, Stapelianthus decaryi





That's it for now, more to come

While ago since the last update, so here we go, more to come in the future (some really nice species)

Echidnopsis repens, nice small flowers





Ceropegia sp., possibly a hybrid

bud



flower







This post has been edited by Willem Eijer on September 02, 2010 09:47 pm

Ceropegia sp. now idea what species, but I think also a hybrid



Frerea indica



Quaqua mammilaris



Ceropegia stapeliiformis ssp. serpentina







Ceropegia stapeliiformis ssp. stapeliiformis, nice colourform

Huernia procumbens, very strange shape of flowers for this genus



Huernia quinata, really nice species





Huernia macrocarpa red-yellow



Huernia hislopii



Stapelia gettleffii bud

very nice selection of Asclepiads Willelm, i like Asclepiads too,

Fascinating! I like a lot of cactus and succulents. nice garden, so good see happy plants!!

Some new stuff, also some other weird plants

Very nice and rare species, small but really beautifull flowers

Larryleachia picta, Pofadder RSA





Species we have since a few weeks

Aristolochia litoralis



















There will be lots more soon

Pseudolithos dodsonianus