Adenium

Adenium
An Adenium Flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Subfamily:	Apocynoideae
Tribe:	Wrightieae
Genus:	Adenium Roem. & Schult.[1]
Species
See text.

Adenium is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

Cultivation and uses

Adenium obesum is grown as a houseplant in temperate regions. Numerous hybrids have been developed. Adeniums are appreciated for their colorful flowers, but also for their unusual, thick caudexes. They can be grown for many years in a pot and are commonly used for bonsai.

Because seed-grown plants are not genetically identical to the mother plant, desirable varieties are commonly propagated by grafting. Genetically identical plants can also be propagated by cutting. However, cutting-grown plants do not tend to develop a desirable thick caudex as quickly as seed-grown plants.

The sap of Adenium boehmianum, A. multiflorum, and A. obesum contains toxic cardiac glycosides and is used as arrow poison throughout Africa for hunting large game.^[2]

Classification

The genus Adenium has been held to contain as many as twelve species. These are considered by other authors to be subspecies or varieties. A late-20th-century classification by Plazier recognizes five species.^[3] Species include:

• Adenium arabicum Balf.f. (Arabia)
  • Adenium Arabicum subsp. Thai Socotranum (Thailand)
• Adenium boehmianum Schinz (Namibia, Angola)
• Adenium multiflorum Klotzsch. (Southern Africa, from Zambia south)
• Adenium obesum (Forssk.) Roem. & Schult.
  • Adenium obesum subsp. obesum (from Mauritania and Senegal to Sudan)
  • Adenium obesum subsp. oleifolium (South Africa, Botswana)
  • Adenium obesum subsp. socotranum (Socotra)
  • Adenium obesum subsp. somalense (Eastern Africa)
• Adenium swazicum Stapf (Eastern South Africa)^[3][4]

Formerly placed here

• Pachypodium namaquanum (Wyley ex Harv.) Welw. (as A. namaquanum Wyley ex Harv.)^[4]

Common Names

Due to its resemblance to plumeria, and the fact that it was introduced to the Philippines from Bangkok, Thailand, the plant was also called as Bangkok kalachuchi in the Philippines.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ "Genus: Adenium Roem. & Schult.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2003-03-14. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?182. Retrieved 2010-06-26. 
2. ^ Schmelzer, G.H.; A. Gurib-Fakim (2008). Medicinal Plants. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. pp. 43–49. ISBN 9789057822049. http://books.google.com/books?id=7FJqgQ3_tnUC. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Stoffel Petrus Bester (June 2004). "Adenium multiflorum Klotzsch". South African National Biodiversity Institute's plant information website. http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantab/adeniummultiflor.htm. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "GRIN Species Records of Adenium". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?182. Retrieved 2010-06-26. 

External links

• Adenium discussion and pictures