Pachypodium bispinosum | Elephant's foot
€21,20
🌱 Morphology
A small, slow-growing caudiciform and succulent shrub that develops a large, partially subterranean tuberous stem. This caudex can reach approximately 60 cm in height and 25 cm in diameter, and serves as an important water reserve that allows it to survive long periods of drought.
Numerous relatively thin, erect or spreading branches emerge from the caudex and can reach about 60 cm in length. The branches have pairs of straight spines approximately 10–20 mm long, which are relatively short.
The leaves are alternate, narrow, and lanceolate, approximately 20–40 mm long, although their width can vary considerably. They are dark green, slightly rough or glabrous on the upper surface and more clearly hairy on the underside, with margins curled downwards.
These characteristics are especially useful for distinguishing it from Pachypodium succulentum: P. bispinosum usually presents thinner branches, somewhat longer leaves, and shorter spines, while P. succulentum develops thicker, bonsai-like branches, and its leaves have more markedly recurved margins.
🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
Family Apocynaceae. It is endemic to South Africa, mainly the Eastern Cape and also the eastern end of the Western Cape, with a distribution extending approximately from Ladismith to Somerset East and the surroundings of Port Elizabeth.
It grows in stony places, rocky slopes, and dry succulent scrubland, generally in warm, very well-drained locations. The underground caudex and succulent tissues allow it to store water and withstand long periods without rainfall.
❄️ Temperature
USDA Zone 9b–11b. It tolerates minimum temperatures of down to −3 ºC, as a point of reference for well-acclimated specimens kept dry and protected from humidity.
Although it comes from a region with relatively cool winters, in its natural habitat it mainly occupies frost-free environments. In cultivation, it is recommended to protect it from prolonged frost and to keep the caudex and roots dry when temperatures are low.
☀️ Lighting
Indicative DLI PAR: 20–30 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹.
It requires high light levels to maintain compact growth and to correctly develop its branches and caudex. It can be grown in full sun once acclimated, although young specimens from greenhouses must be exposed progressively.
Intense light also favors good lignification of the branches and more abundant flowering.
💧 Growth cycle and irrigation
It is a xerophyte adapted to warm, dry environments with seasonal rainfall. During the favorable period, it produces leaves and new shoots, while during the unfavorable season, it can significantly reduce its activity and lose part of its foliage.
During active growth, it is recommended to perform abundant irrigation and allow the substrate to dry out completely before the next watering. The caudex allows it to maintain water reserves during prolonged periods of drought.
As dormancy approaches, watering should be spaced out progressively. During winter, especially if temperatures are low or the plant has lost its leaves, it should be kept practically dry.
Seasonal dehydration is a normal adaptation of the species and should not be compensated for by keeping the substrate moist during dormancy.
🌸 Flowering
The flowers constitute the most reliable character to distinguish Pachypodium bispinosum from Pachypodium succulentum.
In P. bispinosum, the flowers are bell-shaped, pink to purple, frequently with paler lobes, and occasionally white. They reach approximately 20 mm in diameter and appear solitary or in small groups at the ends of the branches. The corolla features a wide tube, approximately 7–8 mm in diameter, and relatively short lobes, about 5–7 mm long.
In contrast, P. succulentum features star-shaped flowers, with a much narrower tube and longer, more extended lobes. Furthermore, in P. succulentum, the tube and sepals are pubescent, whereas in P. bispinosum they are glabrous.
The flowering of P. bispinosum mainly occurs during spring and early austral summer, approximately from August to December. In Spain, this may shift approximately to February–June, depending on the thermal cycle and the dormancy followed by the specimen.
🌿 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, when the plant has lost its leaves, or while it remains subjected to low temperatures.
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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