A Milkweed Vine
Pentarrhinum (?)
Among thicket vegetation near Lake Elementiata in the Rift Valley, Nakuru County, Kenya. October 2016.
Milkweeds are usually an easy-to-recognize group of plants. The five pointed flowers often have a distinct corona about the central stigma and they are very often arranged in an umbrella-like cluster. Bright white latex exudes from broken stems or leaves. Finally the pod-shaped fruits are typically borne in pairs and in this case contain many cottony seeds. This species grows as a slender vine with rather shiny green, elliptic to heart-shaped leaves about a meter to two meters in length. No fruits were present at the time of the photo at left.