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 Did you know that the
leaves
of Pachypodium plant sprout
just at the top of the plant?
Pachypodium -
Pachypodium
spp.
Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to
Africa. It is a genus of about 20 to 24 species and belongs to the large family,
Apocynaceae. Like all species in this family - Pachypodium's sap is poisonous to
stock/human. Pachypodium comes from Greek pachy (thick) and podium (foot), hence meaning
thick-footed, referring to the thickened stem or caudex.
The majority are from Madagascar with some from southern
Africa.
The usually bottle-shaped trunk is usually solitary and wide, they range from small
(eg P. brevicaule), to six to ten metres tall 'trees' (eg P. lamerii and P.
geayi) and armed with stout paired spines and topped with a rosette of long leaves
(sort of palm-like ... hence the common name 'Madagascar Palm' for some species).
They flower on mature plants, that might be 10 years or more from seed, and like most members of the Apocynaceae family they are large and
showy.
More....click
here!
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