Gomphocarpus fruticosus
Common names
Swan plant, narrow leaf cotton bush
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Simplified description
Semi-woody short-lived shrub withalmost glabrous opposite leaves; all green parts excude a milky poisonous latex when broken. Pods (actually follicles) inflated, soft-bristly and ‘swan-shaped’, packed with black seeds each bearing a white coma (‘parachute’).
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Apocynaceae
Ecology
Year naturalised
1870
Origin
Southern Africa
Other information
Poisonous plant
The tissues are full of a poisonous white milky latex making all parts of the plant toxic including the bladder-like fruits.