Adenium is a genus of flowering plants in the
family Apocynaceae, containing a
single species, Adenium
obesum, also known as Sabi Star,
Kudu or Desert-rose. It is native to tropical and
subtropical eastern and southern Africa and Arabia.
It is an
evergreen succulent shrub in tropical climates and
semi-deciduous to deciduous in colder climates, is also dependent on the
subspecies or cultivar. Growing to 1-3 m in height, with
pachycaul
stems and a stout, swollen basal
caudex. The
leaves are spirally arranged,
clustered toward the tips of the shoots, simple entire, sexy in texture, 5-15 cm
long and 1-8 cm broad. The
flowers are tubular, 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 flowers tend
to red and pink, often with a whitish blush outward of the throat.
Cultivation and uses
Adenium is a 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 cacti. Adenium is typically propagated by seed or
stem cuttings. The numerous hybrids are propagated mainly by grafting onto
seedling rootstock. While plants grown from seed are more likely to have the
swollen caudex at a young age, with time many cutting-grown plants cannot be
distinguished from seedlings.
The plant exudes a highly toxic sap which is used by some peoples, such as
the Akie in Tanzania, to coat arrow-tips
for hunting.
