Family: APOCYNACEAE
Genus: Pachypodium
Species: rutenbergianum
Species Author: Vatke
Pachypodium rutenbergianum is a tree that can reach 3 to 12 m high, and its trunk up to 60 cm in diameter at base. The trunk is cigar shaped. The leaves only grow at the very tips of the branches and are oblong with pointed ends and dark red veins on the underside 3-20 cm long. The plant has short branches and 1 cm long spines. Leaves are green and 10 to 15 cm long, 4 cm wide. The white and yellow flowers are very pretty and showy, 30-45 x 15-15 mm, resembling those of plumeria, and smell pleasant. The fruits are reddish brown and oblong, about 30 x 4 cm, and always grow in pairs.
RAPANARIVO, S., AND A. J. M. LEEUWENBERG. 1999. Pachypodium (Apocynaceae): Taxonomy, Habitats and Cultivation. Balkema.
The bark of this plant is sometimes mixed with Raphia to make a textile.
RAPANARIVO, S., AND A. J. M. LEEUWENBERG. 1999. Pachypodium (Apocynaceae): Taxonomy, Habitats and Cultivation. Balkema.
This plant is native to Madagascar, although it is grown in gardens throughout the dry tropics. In its native habitat it grows mostly on rocks and sand dunes in dry habitats up to 400 m elevation.
RAPANARIVO, S., AND A. J. M. LEEUWENBERG. 1999. Pachypodium (Apocynaceae): Taxonomy, Habitats and Cultivation. Balkema.
The generic name comes from the greek words “pachy” meaning thick and “podium” meaning foot.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachypodium)
All members of the genus are prohibited from international trade by CITES. There is, however, a legal and sustainable nursery trade in plants grown from seed and cuttings.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachypodium)
Two significant adapations allow Pachypodium to survive in dry, hostile environments: “pachycaul” trunks, and spines. The thick, more or less pithy, trunks of pachypodium facilitate water storage similar to a cactus. The trunks and branches can also photosynthesize, making the leaves, which can cause rapid water evaporation from the plant, unnecesary in times of drought. Spines help condense moisture from fog or dew into drops which fall at the base of the plant. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachypodium)
