Gomphocarpus, placed in the Apocynaceae family is a genus of milkweeds first described as a genus in 1810. It is widespread across much of Africa, with a few species naturalized in other regions. The generic name is derived from the Latin words, gompho, meaning club and carpus, meaning fruit, in reference to the shape of the fruit.

Gomphocarpus glaucophyllus, synonymously known as Asclepias glaucophylla or Asclepias lilacina, is a perennial plant or rhizome-like geophyte. The species is native to Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In South Africa, the plant occurs in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West.