R.
baccifera (Transvaal) KAF. Original plant from Barthlott circa 1977-78
DISTRIBUTION. Tropical Africa (Sierre Leone and Ethiopia southwards to Angola and E. South Africa), Madagascar, Comores, Mascarenes, Seychelles, Sri Lanka; see Barthlott, l.c. (1983).
Chromosome number: 2n = 44. This is the widespread member of this complex species in the Old World and differs from its Neotropical representatives in micromorphological epidermal characters and in having generally larger fruits.
R. baccifera subsp mauritiana (copyright Ken Friedman, Kew 2006)
De Candolle in Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 3 : 476.
1828
Page 476
R. CASSYTHA (Gaertn. l.c. Haw. l.c.) pendulus, ramis verticillatis nudisglabris, calyce 6-partito, petalis 5-6. ? in ramis arborum excelsiorum Ja-maicae, Hispaniolae. Cassytha baccifera Mill. illustr. Cassytha filiformis Mill.dict. ed. 8. Cactus pendulus fl. ind. occ. 876. Bacca alba Ribis rubri magn.12-sperma. (v.s.) Sub nomine R. Cassythae latent sine dubio plurimae speciesdistinctae, sed limitibus non satis notis hìc varietates indicatae, nempè :
.e. Mauritiana, repens, ramis confertis articulatis. ? in insul. Mauritii ad rupem dictum Lepouce. Cactus pendulinus Sieb.! Fl. Maur. 2. n. 259. An R. Cassytha in Mauritio translata et indigena facta? An species propria sola extrà Americam crescens? (v. s. sp. ex Commerson, Bory, Sieber.)
English translation
R. CASSYTHA (Gaertn. l.c. Haw. l.c.) pendulous, branches whorled naked glabrous, outer tepals 6, inner tepals 5-6. Habitat. growing high up in the branches of trees in Jamaica, Hispaniola. Cassytha baccifera Mill. illustr. Cassytha filiformis Mill.dict. ed. 8. Cactus pendulus Fl. Ind. Occ. 876. Berry white, Ribis (?Ripe) red large ,12seeds. (v.s.) Under the name R. cassytha are hidden, no doubt many distinct species, but we are limited in that these varieties do not show enough features, namely:.
e. Mauritiana, creeping, densely jointed branches. Stated by Lepouce as growing on rocks on the Island of Mauritius. Cactus pendulinusSieb.! Fl. Maur. 2. n. 259.
Has R. Cassytha been tranferred to Mauritius and made indigenous? Is it a species solely growing from America? (v. s. sp. ex Commerson, Bory, Sieber.)