Apocynaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Members of the family are native to the European, Asian, African, Australian, and American tropics or subtropics, with some temperate members. The former family Asclepiadaceae is considered a subfamily of Apocynaceae and contains 348 genera. A list of Apocynaceae genera may be found here.
Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Madagascar and Africa. It belongs to the family Apocynaceae.
Pachypodium lealii, the bottle tree, is a species of plant included in the genusPachypodium. The scientific name derives from the 19th century Portuguese geologist Fernando da Costa Leal, who described the bottle tree during an exploration in southern Angola.
Pachypodium lamerei is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is a stem succulent, photosynthesizing mainly through its trunk, and comes from the island of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa. It has large thorns and leaves mostly just at the top of the plant, and large, fragrant flowers. The species has become one of the best known pachypodiums in cultivation, being relatively easy to propagate and grow. In cultivation it is often marketed as the Madagascar palm, despite its not being a palm at all. A variety called "Ramosum" has been described. It is distinguished mostly by a dwarf growth habit and its more rounded corolla lobe.
Plants belonging to the genus Pachypodium vary widely from each other in some aspects, but also share a number of basic common traits. Each species is adapted to the specific environment which it inhabits, but all species of the genus share certain anatomical and metabolic traits, reflecting their common evolutionary ancestry.
The taxonomy of the Pachypodium genus is the study of the species and subspecies in the genus Pachypodium. There are currently 25 recognized species in the genus, of which 17 are shrubs and eight are trees.
Pachypodiumhabitats consist of isolated, specialized, micro–environmental niches, generally xeric, rocky, frost-free areas within parts of western Madagascar and southern Africa. Pachypodium species are often indifferent to the regional ecological, biotic zone of vegetation, a fact which explains some of Pachypodium morphology and architecture. The large scale vegetation zones are in some cases irrelevant to the micro-environments of Pachypodium, in the sense that the xeric niches may be embedded in larger mesic biomes.
Aloidendron dichotomum, formerly Aloe dichotoma, the quiver tree or kokerboom, is a tall, branching species of succulent plant, indigenous to Southern Africa, specifically in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, and parts of Southern Namibia.
Adenium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1819. It is native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
The Richtersveld is a desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to craggy sharp mountains of volcanic rock and the lushness of the Orange River, which forms the border with neighboring Namibia. The area ranges in altitude from sea level, to 1,377 m (4,518 ft) at Cornellberg. Located in the north-western side of the Northern Cape province in South Africa, the Richtersveld is regarded as the only arid biodiversity hotspot on earth and the majority of the area is inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List due to its cultural values.
Aloidendron pillansii, formerly Aloe pillansii, the giant quiver tree or bastard quiver tree, is a large, branching species of succulent plant indigenous to southern Africa. It is regarded as critically endangered.
Faurea is a genus containing 16 species of flowering plants in the protea family which occur in the summer rainfall area of southern Africa, extending to tropical Africa and Madagascar. The name honours South African soldier and botanist William Caldwell Faure (1822-1844) who was killed on active service in India.
Tridentea pachyrrhiza is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to Namibia and South Africa.
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The ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a peace park straddling the border between South Africa and Namibia. It was formed in 2003 by combining the Namibian ǀAi-ǀAis Hot Springs Game Park and the South African Richtersveld National Park. Most of the South African part of the park forms part of the buffer zone of the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site, which measures 5,920 square kilometres (2,290 sq mi). The Fish River Canyon, the largest canyon in Africa, is located in the park. A memorandum of understanding was signed on 17 August 2003 by the presidents of South Africa and Namibia, which formalised the establishment of the park. |Ai-|Ais is Khoekhoe for fire-fire, meaning 'hot as fire' or 'scalding hot' named after the hot springs of the same name.
Aloe pearsonii is a very distinctive and unusual species of aloe, that is naturally endemic to the arid Richtersveld area on the border between South Africa and Namibia.
Pachypodium rosulatum, common name elephant's foot plant, belongs to the family Apocynaceae.
Gasteria pillansii, the Namaqua gasteria, is succulent plant native to the arid winter-rainfall regions in the far west of South Africa and Namibia.
Pachypodium bispinosum is a succulent sub-shrub in the family Apocynaceae.
Tylecodon paniculatus, also known as butter bush, butter tree, butterboom or rooisuikerblom (Afrikaans), is a species of succulent plant in the genus Tylecodon belonging to the family Crassulaceae.
