Alluaudia procera | Madagascar ocotillo
€26,50
🌱 Morphology
Slow-growing, pachycaul, thorny, and deciduous succulent tree, which during its early years may present numerous thin stems forming a shrubby structure. With age, it develops a thick and columnar main trunk, from which smaller, ascending branches emerge, eventually acquiring a very characteristic tree-like habit.
In natural conditions, it can exceed 15 m in height, whereas in cultivation, it tends to remain considerably smaller. The trunk and branches are whitish-gray and covered in conical spines, arranged in longitudinal rows.
The leaves are small, fleshy, oval, and green, approximately 1–3.5 cm, and appear in pairs on both sides of the stems, between the spines. During the long dry season, the leaves fall, drastically reducing transpiration. The thick stems store water and constitute the main organ for survival against drought.
🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
Didiereaceae family. It is endemic to southern and southwestern Madagascar, where it is part of the region's characteristic xerophilous spiny forests.
It grows mainly in desert and dry scrub environments, on sandy, calcareous, or rocky terrain with scarce and highly seasonal rainfall. It is one of the characteristic tree elements of the spiny vegetation of southern Madagascar, where it shares its habitat with other extraordinary xerophytes like Didierea and Operculicarya.
Its resemblance to Fouquieria splendens, the American ocotillo, is the result of remarkable evolutionary convergence: both develop photosynthetic stems, small and deciduous leaves, and spines along the branches, but they belong to completely different families.
❄️ Temperature
USDA Zone 9b–11b. It tolerates minimum temperatures down to −4 ºC, provided these are isolated episodes and the plant remains completely dry. Some botanical collections are more conservative and place its resistance at USDA 10, so the actual resistance depends considerably on the state of hydration, acclimatization, and the duration of the cold spell.
It is not recommended to expose it to prolonged frosts. During winter, especially when it loses its leaves, it should be kept practically dry. The combination of cold and humidity in the roots or tissues significantly increases the risk of damage.
☀️ Lighting
Indicative DLI PAR: 20–30 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹.
It requires very high lighting and responds especially well to direct sun. Intense radiation promotes compact growth, good lignification of the stems, and the development of the characteristic tree-like structure.
Specimens grown in protected conditions must be progressively acclimatized to direct sun to avoid sunburn on young tissues.
💧 Growth cycle and irrigation
Winter dormancy. It is a xerophyte of a seasonally dry tropical climate, adapted to a long dry season. During the favorable period, it produces leaves and new shoots; when water availability decreases, it progressively enters dormancy and loses its leaves.
During active growth, it is recommended to water abundantly and let the substrate dry completely before the next application. Frequency must be adapted to the temperature, brightness, and container size.
When leaf loss begins, waterings should be progressively spaced out. During dormancy, especially in winter and at low temperatures, it should be kept practically dry.
The absence of leaves during the unfavorable season is a normal physiological adaptation and should not be interpreted as a loss of vitality. The stems remain functional and store the reserves necessary to restart growth when favorable conditions return.
🌸 Flowering
The flowers are small, yellowish to whitish-yellow in tone, and appear grouped in large inflorescences toward the ends of the branches. Individually they are unremarkable, but the clusters can reach a considerable size.
Flowering is infrequent in cultivation, especially in young specimens. In natural conditions, it occurs associated with maturity and favorable seasonal conditions. The species is dioecious, so male and female flowers appear on different plants.
In the southern hemisphere, flowering has been observed mainly toward the end of the dry season and the beginning of the favorable period. In Spain, the date can shift considerably depending on cultivation conditions.
🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, Desert CHOICE® Succulents is recommended, applied after watering. Before flowering, it can be supplemented with Desert CHOICE® Flowering.
It is not recommended to fertilize during dormancy, while it remains leafless, or when temperatures are too low.
This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a technological square pot and with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.
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