Cyphia volubilis is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cyphia, endemic to the Western Cape. It is a type of Fynbos climbing plant that uses a host to get its own flowers above ground. It has a bilabiate corolla; with 3 lobes on top and 2 at the bottom.
Description Cyphia volubilis is a twining climber, with an underground tuber.
The leaves are simple, linear, entire, and often densely denticulate. The bracts can resemble leaves; they are entire or with a protruding or lobed tooth on both sides at the base (rarely they can appear 3-lobed).
The flower shape is bilabiate, with the corolla tube divided entirely into two (three petals curved upwards, two down). This species has very short stamens, 3-4mm long (only a quarter to a third of the length of the corolla). The flower colour is white or a pale grey-purple-ish colour. There are usually some tiny purple spots on the inside of the petals, deep inside the flower.Phillips, E.P. (1917). A revision of the South African material of the genus Cyphia Berg. Annals of the South African Museum 9:449-474.Wimmer, F.E. (1968). Lobelioideae Supplementum et Campanulaceae - Cyphioideae. In: S. Danert (ed). Das Pflanzenreich 108:53-1024. Akademie Verlag, Berlin.
It is closely related to, and often confused with, other southern Cape species such as Cyphia digitata and Cyphia sylvatica.
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