Sugaralmond plant

Description

Pachyphytum oviferum, the sugaralmond plant or moonstone, is a species of plant in the genus Pachyphytum. The meaning of the name Pachyphytum oviferum is thick plant bearing eggs. It comes from Mexico, in the rocky cliffs of the state of San Luis Potosi at 1200 meters altitude. The leaves are succulent and egg-shaped, which gave its name to the species. The stems (20 cm long, 1 cm thick) rise then fall with about 15 leaves. These leaves are 3 to 5 cm long, 1.8 to 3 cm wide and 8 to 17 mm thick. Leaves are pale blue-green to bluish-purple, looking like a sugared almond confection. The inflorescence consists of a 30 cm stem bearing scarlet, bell-shaped flowers. 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.