Pachypodium namaquanum
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Pachypodium namaquanum |
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| Pachypodium namaquanum | ||||||||||||
| ( Wyley ex Harv. ) Welw. |
Pachypodium namaquanum is a plant type from the genus Pachypodium in the family of Hundsgiftgewächse (Apocynaceae). In her homeland of Namibia she is called Halbmensch ( Afrikaans halfmens ) because according to an African legend she is half human and half plant.
description
Pachypodium namaquanum is a perennial plant that grows unbranched or only sparsely branched with a clearly thickened trunk . The trunk reaches heights of 1.5 to 2 m and is up to 30 cm wide at the base and tapers to about 9 cm at the top. The bark is silver-gray and has a spiral shape with bumps, from each of which three pale brown, pointed thorns up to 7 cm long arise. The leaves stand in a rosette at the top of the trunk. They are pale green, soft, curled, and velvety; elliptical to lanceolate in shape and are 8 to 12 cm long and 2 to 4 cm wide.
The flowers are scattered at the top of the plant, they are cup-shaped, 2.5 to 5 mm long and 8 to 10 mm wide. The inside is matt purple, the outside is yellowish green.
The fruits are 2.5 to 4 cm long and contain 4 mm large, egg-shaped seeds .
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 18.
Occurrence
The species is widespread in the south of Namibia , as well as in the North Cape region of South Africa ( Namaqualand ). It grows there on dry, rocky slopes at heights between 300 and 900 m.
Systematics
The species was first described as Adenium namaquanum in 1863 by Andrew Wyley and William Henry Harvey . Friedrich Welwitsch placed the species in the genus Pachypodium in 1869 .
A vigorous growing hybrid called 'Arid Lands' was bred with Pachypodium succulentum .
literature
- GD Rowley: Pachypodium . In: Urs Eggli (Ed.): Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Dicotyledons . Springer Verlag, 2002, ISBN 978-3-540-41966-2 , p. 14.
Individual evidence
- ^ Keith Coates Palgrave: Trees of Southern Africa . 5th Edition, Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 1988, pp. 794-796. ISBN 0-86977-081-0
- ↑ Pachypodium namaquanum at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ↑ Thesaurus Capensis: or, illustrations of the South African flora London, Volume 2, p. 11, 1863 online at biodiversitylibrary.org, accessed on September 30, 2018.
- ↑ Transactions of the Linnean Society of London London, Volume 27, p. 45, 1869 online at biodiversitylibrary.org, accessed September 30, 2018.
