• Scientific Name: Gomphocarpus physocarpus E.Mey.
• Ref: Comm. Pl. Afr. Austr.: 202. 1838
• Synonyms: Asclepias brasiliensis (E.Fourn.) Schltr.; Asclepias physocarpa (E.Mey.) Schltr.; Gomphocarpus brasiliensis E.Fourn.; Gomphocarpus fruticosus f. brasiliensis (E.Fourn.) Briq.
• English Common Name: balloonplant, balloon cotton-bush, bishop’s balls, nailhead, swan plant
• Chinese Common Name: 钝钉头果 dùn∙dìngtóuguǒ
• Japanese Common Name: フウセントウワタ [風船唐綿] fūsentōwata
• Family: Apocynaceae
• Genus: Gomphocarpus
• Distribution: Cultivated for medicine in S Guangdong and Hainan [Africa; widely introduced].
• Photo: 06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden, Guangdong
• Note: shares the Japanese common name with Gomphocarpus fruticosus

Shrubs 1-2 m tall, few stemmed. Young stems and inflorescences pubescent. Petiole ca. 1 cm; leaf blade narrowly lanceolate, 5-l0 × 0.6-1.5 cm, adaxially sparsely pubescent, abaxially hairy along midvein, both ends tapering or acute. Peduncle 2-4.5 cm, short hairy. Pedicel 1.5-2.5 cm. Sepals lanceolate. Corolla white, 1.4-2 cm in diam.; lobes ovate, 8-10 mm, reflexed, margin densely bearded. Corona lobes white, inner margin of hoodlike apex with 2, short, recurved or straight cusps, with a large adaxial nectary. Follicles obliquely ovoid to subglobose, 6-8 × 2.5-5 cm, base oblique, apex rounded, beakless; pericarp with soft bristles or spines, minutely tomentose when young, glabrescent when ripe. Seeds ovate, ca. 5 mm; coma shining white, ca. 5 mm. 2n = 22. (Flora of China)

06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden

06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden

06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden

06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden

06/21/2009, South China Botanical Garden