About Pachypodium rosulatum Baker
Pachypodium rosulatum Baker is a shrubby, perennial caudiciform plant. It grows a bottle-shaped trunk that is brownish silver and almost spineless, reaching 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) wide and 20–35 cm (7.9–13.8 in) tall. Many thorny cylindrical branches grow out from this caudex, forming a full shrub that reaches around 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) in total height. Its deciduous leaves drop during the dry season, and grow in rosettes at the tips of branches. The leaves are dark green, oblanceolate, ovate or elliptical, and borne on petioles. The sulphur-yellow flowers grow on long stalks, arranged in an inflorescence that stands around 30 cm (12 in) tall. This species flowers from February through May. Its fruits are 6 to 20 inches long, and hold elongated seeds that measure 6 mm in length. Pachypodium rosulatum is native to Madagascar, where it is widespread across the central plateau. It grows naturally in sunny, stony areas. Its succulent caudex and underground tuberous structure let it survive long periods of drought.
