Microloma

Microloma is a small genus of Ceropegia-like twiners and twiggy bushes occurring in mainly arid or fynbos regions in South Africa. They are generally undistinguished when not in bloom, but the flowers of most species are incongruously decorative.

==Overview== Microloma R. Br. in Mem. Werner. Soc.1: 53, (1809), is a genus of herbaceous perennial, dicotyledonous plants. Microloma species were originally described as members of the genus Ceropegia, in the family Asclepiadaceae, but Brown separated them and created a new genus, still in the family Asclepiadaceae. More recently the Asclepiadaceae have been reclassified as the subfamily Asclepiadoideae of the dogbane family Apocynaceae. thumb|Microloma tenuifolium growing in a tangle without support where fire had removed fynbos Shrubland|scrub a year earlier. The stems would normally be twining around the branches of perennials. thumb|Microloma calycinum, a species from an arid region thumb|Microloma sagittatum in flower, twining in mixed fynbos thicket