Adenium is a genus of flowering plants of the family Apocynaceae.
It is native to tropical and subtropical eastern and southern Africa and also Arabia.
Containing a single species, Adenium obesum is also known as Sabi Star, Kudu or Desert-rose.
It is an evergreen succulent shrub, that grows to around 1-3 m in
height, with pachycaul stems and a stout, swollen basal caudex.
The flowers are tubular, around 2-5 cm long, with the outer portion 4-6
cm diameter with five petals, resembling those of other related genera
such as Plumeria and Nerium.
The leaves are spirally arranged, clustered toward the tips of the
shoots, simple entire, leathery in texture, 5-15 cm long and 1-8 cm
broad.
The flowers tend to red and pink, often with a whitish blush outward of the throat.
Several regional subspecies occur including:
* Adenium obesum subsp. boehmianum. Namibia, Angola.
* Adenium obesum subsp. obesum. Arabia.
* Adenium obesum subsp. oleifolium. South Africa, Botswana.
* Adenium obesum subsp. socotranum. Socotra.
* Adenium obesum subsp. somalense. Eastern Africa.
* Adenium obesum subsp. swazicum. Eastern South Africa.
Cultivation of Adenium and uses of Adenium
Adenium is a very popular
houseplant in temperate regions. It requires a sunny location and a
minimum indoor temperature in winter of 10 °C. It thrives on a xeric
watering regime as required by just about all cacti. Typically, Adenium is propagated by seed.
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