PACHYPODIUM

Pachypodium densiflorum is a stubby, caudiciform, perennial plant. A caudiciform plant, in botany, is a kind of plant equipped with a caudex, that is an enlarged stem or, more often, trunk, which has the function to store nutrients and water to survive periods of drought. It is, in fact, typical of plants native to semi-arid climates, with a rather marked distinction between the rainfall season and the arid one.
In P. densiflorum, the caudex is smooth, greyish-silvery brownish. It can become rather large, reaching up to 1 meter in width! From above the caudex, many short, upright, thick, stubby, slightly conical stems are formed. They are also equipped by short, conical spines, very sharp and more crowded on the upper part of the stem. Leaves are grouped in crowded rosettes at the top of the stems. Their shape is almost perfectly oval, and they have 2 colors: they are olive green on the upper side and red on the lower one. The entire plant reaches a maximum height of 70 centimeters. It has, overall, an odd aspect: it looks like a strange, irregular potato or a Jerusalem artichoke with its lumps filled with leaves. The species name “Densiflorum” refers to the crowded flowers, more than 12-15 in the same plant, clustered on stalks up to 40 centimeters high! The flowers are very appreciated for their lively yellow color and their abundance. Fruits are horn-shaped, up to 15 centimeters long, grouped in pairs, and host small, 4 millimeters wide seeds. Precisely for its oddity, P. densiflorum is very appreciated among caudiciform plant and bonsai lovers. It’s the perfect plant to make a bonsai: it stays very small when grown outside its natural habitat and doesn’t require any particular care. P. densiflorum is one of the most attractive species in the genus and it’s very sought after by collectors.