Pachypodium rutenbergianum
Family: Apocynaceae
It is a candelabrum-shaped tree forming a stout, succulent, bottle-shaped trunk and is the largest of the pachypodiums, 3 to 9 m tall (occasionally it may reach 15 m with time). It has a heavily branched crown of thick forking branches. The showy pure white often with yellowish-green center flowers are large, asymmetrical and smell of perfume. The leaves form around the growth tips of the trunk and branches and have a downward curvature in the length.
Sowing instructions: It is easily propagated from ripe seeds, sown in a normal nursery tray, using a well-drained seed-sowing compost and silica sand mixture (silica sand improves drainage) kept moist and at a temperature of approximately 22°C. The seeds need some degree of humidity for successful germination. One can generally expect seeds to germinate within 3-4 weeks (one month).
Locality: Ex Hort. Harvest: July 2024