PACHYPODIUM RUTENBERGIANUM

This member of the Apocynaceae family was given this name by Wilhelm Vatke in 1885. It is found in all the way from the north to the south of the western Madagascar, growing in a sand or another well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The trunk can grow to 30-60 centimetres in diameter, the entire plant from three to eight metres in height. The flowers are white.

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 Christian Rutenberg, 1851-1878, a German explorer and botanical collector.