Ceropegia woodii

Ceropegia woodii is a flowering plant in the genus Ceropegia (Apocynaceae), native to South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the related Ceropegia linearis, as C. linearis subsp. woodii. Common names include chain of hearts, collar of hearts, string of hearts, rosary vine, hearts-on-a-string and sweetheart vine.

The species was discovered in 1881 by John Medley Wood, curator of the Durban Botanic Gardens, hanging from rocks on Groenberg in Natal at an altitude of 1800 feet. Thirteen years later, in 1894, he sent a living plant to Kew. Its trailing habit, neat appearance and tolerance of neglect, made it an ideal plant for hanging baskets. The plant that had been sent to Kew subsequently flowered, providing the material for Plate 7704 of Curtis's Botanical Magazine published in 1900. The prolific botanical artist Matilda Smith prepared the plate, while the Kew taxonomist N. E. Brown produced a detailed description, naming the plant after its discoverer.

It is an evergreen succulent trailing vine that grows to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in height and spreads to reach up to 2–4 metres (6 ft 7 in–13 ft 1 in) in length. Its leaves are shaped like hearts, about 1-2 cm wide and long. When exposed to sufficient light they have a deep green colour; under insufficient lighting the leaves are pale green. With age it develops a woody caudex at its base. The roots, and occasionally the stems, will often develop tubers. On the stems these form at nodes and are likely the reason for the common name of rosary vine.

The flower is in general form similar to those of other Ceropegia species. The corolla grows to 3 cm in length and is a mixed colouring of off-white and pale magenta. The five petals are a deeper purple.
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Water storing tubers