PACHYPODIUM MIKEA

This member of the Apocynaceae family was given this name by Jonas M. Lüthy in 2005. It is found near Toliara on Madagascar, growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The swollen stem can grow to 35 centimetres or more in diameter, and reach a height of six metres. The large flowers are white with a yellow throat.

The genera name from Greek; pachys; 'thick' and Greek podion; 'small foot' for the thick caudiciform trunk, formed by some species. The species is named after the Mikea people, a group of Malagasy-speaking horticulturalists and foragers who are often described as the lowland hunter-gatherers of Madagascar. IPNI has Pachypodium as members of the Brassicaceae family.