Taxon: Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W. T. Aiton subsp. fruticosus

• Check PlantSearch database of Botanic Gardens Conservation International for possible non-NPGS germplasm.

See other conspecific taxa:

• Gomphocarpus fruticosus (no accessions)
• Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. decipiens (no accessions)
• Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. flavidus (no accessions)
• Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. rostratus (no accessions)
• Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. setosus (no accessions)

Common names:

• balloon-cotton   (Source: Noxweed Aust ) – English
  
• bristle-fruit silkweed   (Source: PROTABASE ) – English
  
• Cape-cotton   (Source: Noxweed Aust ) – English
  
• cottonbush   (Source: PROTABASE ) – English
  
• duckbush   (Source: Noxweed Aust ) – English
  
• gooseplant   (Source: Zander Ency [as Asclepias fruticosa]) – English
  
• mobydick   (Source: PROTABASE ) – English
  
• narrow-leaf cottonbush   (Source: Noxweed Aust ) – English
  
• swanplant   (Source: Noxweed Aust ) – English
  
• wild cotton   (Source: Websters Dict [as Asclepias fruticosa]) – English
  
• faux cotonnier   (Source: PROTABASE ) – French
  
• ouatier marron   (Source: PROTABASE ) – French
  
• petite ouate   (Source: PROTABASE ) – French
  
• Baumwoll-Seidenpflanze   (Source: Zander Ency [as Asclepias fruticosa]) – German
  
• ballongbuske   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish
  

Economic importance:

• Environmental: ornamental   (fide Dict Gard, as Asclepias fruticosa)
  
• Medicines: folklore   (fide F ChinaEng)
  
• Vertebrate poisons: mammals   (fide Kellerman et al., as Asclepias fruticosus; Econ Pl Aust, as Asclepias fruticosus)
  
• Weed: potential seed contaminant   (fide Noxweed Aust)
  

More:

View toxicology references for Gomphocarpus fruticosus subsp. fruticosus from FDA Poisonous Plant Database

Distributional range:

• AFRICA
  South Tropical Africa: Angola; Malawi; Mozambique; Zambia; Zimbabwe
  Southern Africa: Botswana; Lesotho; Namibia; South Africa - Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Northern Cape, Western Cape; Swaziland

• AFRICA
  Macaronesia: Portugal - Azores, Madeira Islands; Spain - Canary Islands
  Northern Africa: Morocco
  Northeast Tropical Africa: Sudan
  West-Central Tropical Africa: Cameroon
  West Tropical Africa: Cote D'Ivoire; Guinea; Senegal
  Western Indian Ocean: Madagascar; Mauritius; Reunion
• ASIA-TEMPERATE
  Western Asia: Cyprus; Turkey
• ASIA-TROPICAL
  Indian Subcontinent: India
• AUSTRALASIA
  Australia: Australia
  New Zealand: New Zealand
• EUROPE
  Southeastern Europe: Albania; Croatia; Greece [incl. Crete]; Italy [incl. Sardinia, Sicily]
  Southwestern Europe: France [incl. Corsica]; Portugal; Spain [incl. Baleares]
• SOUTHERN AMERICA
  Northern South America: Venezuela
  Western South America: Peru - Moquegua

• NORTHERN AMERICA
  Southwestern U.S.A.: United States - California

• also cultivated

References:

• Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.
• Goyder, D. J. & A. Nicholas. 2001. A revision of Gomphocarpus R. Br.(Apocynaceae: Asclepiadeae). Kew Bull. 56:784–785.

Synonyms:

• (≡) Asclepias fruticosa L. (basionym)
  

Check other web resources for Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W. T. Aiton subsp. fruticosus:

• PLANTS: USDA-NRCS Database of Plants of the United States and its Territories
• SIBIS: South African National Biodiversity Institute's (SANBI) Integrated Biodiversity System
• On-line Flora of Zimbabwe
• TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops

Check other databases for images:

• Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

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