Pachypodium rosulatum

Pachypodium rosulatum
File:Apocynaceae - Pachypodium rosulatum.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Genus:	Pachypodium
Species:	P. rosulatum
Binomial name
Pachypodium rosulatum Baker 1882
Synonyms
Pachypodium cactipes K. Schum. 1895. Pachypodium drakei Costantin & Bois Pachypodium rosulatum drakei (Costantin & Bois ) Marckgr.

Pachypodium rosulatum, common name Elephant's Foot Plant, belongs to the dogbane family Apocynaceae.

Description

Pachypodium rosulatum is a shrubby perennial caudiciform plant with a bottle-shaped trunk, brownnish silver and almost spineless, about 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) wide and about 20–35 centimetres (7.9–13.8 in) tall. From the caudex depart many thorny cylindrical arms, forming a shrub about 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) tall. The leaves, which fall in the dry season, form a rosette on the top of branches. They are deciduous, dark green, oblanceolate, ovate or elliptical and petiolated. The long-stalked flowers are sulphur-yellow and form an inflorescence about 30 centimetres (12 in) high. Flowering period extends from February through May. The fruits are 6 to 20 inches long and contain elongated seeds with a length of 6 mm.

Distribution

This plant is native to Madagascar and it is widespread on the central plateau.

Habitat

These plants prefer sunny and stony areas. The succulent caudex and the underground tuberous enable the plant to tolerate long periods of drought.

Gallery

• Elephants foot plant 1.JPG

  Elephant’s foot yellow flower in the Isalo National Park, Madagascar

• Elephants foot plant 2.JPG

  Elephant’s foot flowering in the Isalo National Park, Madagascar

• Pachypodium Rosulatum Gracilius 01.jpg

  Plant of Pachypodium rosulatum gracilius in the Isalo National Park, Madagascar resembles a neuron brain cell

• Pachypodium rosulatum (2) 1200.jpg

  Pachypodium rosulatum (2) in SCBG,from Flower View

• Pachypodium Rosulatum Gracilius 02.jpg

  Plant of Pachypodium rosulatum gracilius in the Isalo National Park, Madagascar

• Pachypodium rosulatum02.jpg

  Leaves of Pachypodium rosulatum

• Pachypodium rosulatum01.jpg

  Flower of Pachypodium rosulatum, Conservatoire botanique national de Brest, France

• Pachypodium rosulatum flower - Tower Hill Botanic Garden.jpg

  Close-up on a flower of Pachypodium rosulatum in the Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston, Massachusetts, USA.

References

• Journal of Botany, British and Foreign. London 20:219. 1882
• GRIN
• Rapanarivo SHJV, Lavranos JJ, Leeuwenberg AJM Pachypodium (Apocynaceae): taxonomy, habitats and cultivation CRC Press, 1999

External links

• Cactus