Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Pachypodium densiflorum

(Pachypodium densiflorum)

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Description

Pachypodium densiflorum is a species of flowering plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is native to Madagascar. In habitat, it grows on granite rocks in the central plateau of Madagascar. Pachypodium densiflorum grows from a sizeable, fleshy basal caudex. Shoots growing from the caudex are regularly branched and spiny at the youngest parts. Leaves appear at the top of these shoots during vegetation periods and are lanceolate and deep green. The flowers are yellow and appear on long peduncles. Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Madagascar and Africa. It belongs to the family Apocynaceae. Pachypodium are native to Madagascar and continental Southern Africa, i.e. Angola, Zaire, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. In elevation, Pachypodium in both mainland Africa and Madagascar grow between an altitude of sea level, where some species grow in sand dunes, such as Pachypodium geayi, to 1,600 m (5,200 ft) for Pachypodium lealii in southern Africa and 1,900 m (6,200 ft) for Pachypodium brevicaule in Madagascar. In continental southern Africa, the extreme temperatures range from −10 °C (14 °F) in some locations to as much as 45 °C (113 °F). Whereas in Madagascar, with not such a great temperature amplitude, the temperature ranges from −6 to 40 °C (21 to 104 °F). A generalization about precipitation regimes for both southern Africa and Madagascar does not have much meaning because the habitats of Pachypodium vary so greatly with a moisture regime. In some places, Pachypodium receive annually from as little as 75 mm (3.0 in) from the southern part of Africa to a high level of 1,985 mm (78.1 in). A precipitation regime for a species of Pachypodium, therefore, depends upon a habitat's location relative to the influences of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the various mountain ranges of southern continental Africa and of Madagascar. The genus grows in areas where there are significant periods of dry months that range from five months to ten months. It would seem likely that the Atlantic and India Oceans pay a major role in the creation of weather conducive to rainfall, not to mention mountain ranges. For example, the Madagascar dry deciduous forests with their long dry season and severe limestone ridden soils provide one ideal setting for pachypodium.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Gentianales
Family:Apocynaceae
Genus:Pachypodium
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