Cercestis is a genus of flowering plants in the arum family Araceae, order Alismatales. All species are climbing plants native to tropical Africa — distributed across West and Central Africa from Senegal east to the Congo Basin and south to Angola. A distinctive feature of the genus is the production of long, leafless shoots called flagella that emerge at intervals along the climbing stems. The leaves of many Cercestis species exhibit fenestration — natural holes or perforations in the leaf blade, a trait shared with some other aroid genera such as Monstera. The genus was described by the Austrian botanist Heinrich Wilhelm Schott in 1857 and currently comprises about ten accepted species, including Cercestis afzelii, C. mirabilis, C. dinklagei, and C. sagittatus.
Distribution
Cercestis is endemic to tropical Africa, ranging across West and Central Africa from Senegal in the west, south to Angola, and east through Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire). Individual species have more restricted ranges — for example, Cercestis taiensis and C. sagittatus are limited to Liberia and Ivory Coast, while C. dinklagei has a broader range spanning from Sierra Leone and Liberia to Cameroon, Gabon, and Zaire.
Ecology
All Cercestis species are climbers, native to tropical African forests. A distinctive morphological feature of the genus is the production of flagella — long, leafless shoots that emerge at intervals along the climbing stem. Many species also exhibit fenestration, with natural perforations or splits developing in the leaf blade.
Taxonomy
Cercestis belongs to the family Araceae (the arum or aroid family) within the order Alismatales. The genus was described by the Austrian botanist Heinrich Wilhelm Schott in 1857. GBIF records only one direct descendant in its taxonomic backbone (Cercestis afzelii), though the widely accepted species count is around ten. Several taxonomic databases (Catalogue of Life, WCSP, The Plant List, BioLib) agree on a core set of 10 species; Tropicos lists additional names that may include synonyms (e.g., Cercestis elliotii, C. gabunensis, C. lanceolatus, C. ledermannii, C. stigmaticus).
