Pachypodium — Madagascar Caudiciforms

Pachypodium is one of the most architecturally dramatic caudiciform genera on the planet — a small group of heavily spined, water-storing succulents native to the arid plateaus and rocky escarpments of Madagascar and southern Africa. In the Apocynaceae family, they are close botanical relatives of Adenium, sharing the same swollen trunk mechanics, the same drought-adapted physiology, and the same demand for fast-draining substrate, maximum heat, and unfiltered light.

What they don't share is form. Where Adenium grows wide, low, and sprawling, Pachypodium grows upright — columnar, armored, and unmistakably prehistoric. A mature specimen in full sun, crowned with a palm-like rosette of leaves above a silver-spined trunk, looks like nothing else in a container collection.

I have been growing Pachypodium in Zone 6 since the mid-1990s — over 30 years of cold-climate experience with this genus. In Northern Kentucky, these are strictly container plants: they come outside in late spring when nights hold reliably above 50°F and come back in well before first hard frost in early to mid-October. Under those conditions they thrive, putting on visible trunk extension and reliable bloom cycles on mature plants. The key variables are the same as Adenium — maximum light, fast drainage, aggressive summer watering, and a sharp reduction in moisture as temperatures drop in autumn.

Every seed in this collection is fresh stock, selected for germination viability. Pachypodium germinates best at 80–90°F with consistent warmth — a heat mat is the most reliable tool for cold-climate growers germinating indoors.

Currently available:

  • Pachypodium lamerei — the Madagascar Palm; broad, branching candelabra form, fast growth, beginner-friendly entry point to the genus
  • Pachypodium geayi — the Silver Pachypodium; slender single-column silhouette, silver-haired crown shimmer, refined and architectural

This collection will expand as additional species become available. If you are new to Pachypodium, lamerei is the right starting point. If you already grow lamerei and want a visually distinct companion species, geayi is the natural next step.