365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Ceropegia Woodii, Rosary Vine
Day 302: My first experience with Ceropegia woodii was at age ten when my mother and I moved into a beautiful old farmhouse. The sellers were an elderly Scandinavian couple who felt compelled to downsize, so they left many things behind when they moved out. Among them was a Ceropegia with wiry trailing stems 8-10 feet long, stems which bore peculiar woody grey "knobs" of varying sizes at many of the axils. I later learned that these nodules were the plant's means of propagating itself. Each one was capable of producing roots to start a new plant. It wasn't until sometime later that we noticed the equally intriguing flowers. No more than 3/4" in length, they were inconspicuous against the grey-green mottled leaves. The prior owner claimed that she'd had the plant for over fifty years.
After I left home, "Knob" moved from place to place with my mother, and then when as a young wife, I returned to the Pacific Northwest to set up housekeeping, I asked her for a start. In its turn, that "Knob" gave me many more knobs for a succession of plants, but my lackadaisical maintenance led to the expiration of the last generation during one hot summer several years ago. Recently, I obtained a replacement which I again failed to notice was in bloom until the expended flowers began falling to the floor. Hopefully, I'll see little grey knobs developing soon.
Labels:
Ceropegia woodii,
houseplants,
Rosary Vine
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