Thank you for sharing your experience. I found your comments about Cyphostemma and Pachycormus interesting. The leafy state of the former is indeed brief here as well, but the stem has interesting peeling skin. I would think the stem is photosynthetic. It's not at all ugly in my view, but isn't it great we can disagree. I would think slow growth in containers could be a plus where portability is an issue. I don't mind it.

The Pachycormus is native to near here, and it grows year round when young, but eventually becomes a winter grower. Maybe the hard wired seasonal growth pattern makes it somewhat incompatible with overwintering inside? I have had very good results using pruning alone to shape it. The landscape plant here demands a pretty aggressive (like 90%) haircut just before the start of the season.

Hey all!! I am back! I have been battling some brain and neurological health issues, but I've had the last week with some improvement. And starting my process of tests and healing

I've been MIA for quite some time, but I have missed you all on here, and thought about y'all frequently!

All my Pachyies and Caudiciforms are doing well, I had one loss one of my original P. eburneum, it was a slow progression it was left over from a root damage during my original move down here to Texas, but the rest are happy and some held their leaves like my Adenium spp and Dioscorea spp.

My living room space is inhabited by me as well as all 40 of my guys. I know my SO can't wait to have our living room back


I look forward to helping where I can and getting the same back! Missed my plant peeps on here!

Spring is almost here, and your plants will appreciate the release. When they are in a better place, share some pictures. It looks like you've got a mini xeric jungle indoors right now. Welcome back, Connor.

Thanks Baja!!

Yes a little jungle indeed!! A jungle that my SO will be very thankful when she can have the living room back!! :P

Just waiting for these nights to get above 55, or better yet at 60 as most of them are waking up and have started growling h and I don't want to damage any of the new growth, with these dips into the 40's.

I just finished reading the previous posts on this thread. Thanks for the invite @Smotzer. As most of the members of this site know, I have never found a seed that I didn't find the need to germinate. Consequently I have way more plants than the average plant nut (unless of course said nut has a business selling plants). I'll post pachy pics tomorrow.
Since we're talking pachypodiums here I'd like to share an experience. Twenty years ago while attending a plant sale a man showed me some pictures of plants at a house he owned that was to be demolished. He was trying to find someone to take the plants before the bulldozer moved in to clear the land. One of the plants, and certainly the most unusual was a 20' tall branched P. lamerei. I suggested that he contact the local botanical gardens to see if anyone was interested. He only got one reply and that was from a privately owned garden that wanted him to donate the plant and pay to have it moved. That ticked him off so he offered it to me. I hired a professional tree mover with a 94" bucket truck and plucked it out roots and all. I paid him $200 and he dropped it right in my front yard. The tree kept right on growing, flowering and branching for years. I could look out the second story window and watch the bees do their thing. Then it happened, we had a rare freeze event that lasted only four hours but was followed by three straight days of rain. needless to say the tree didn't make it. I have many more now (not that big) but all in pots.

Pachypodium decaryi coming out of dormancy


P. lamerei Ihosy form


A group of P. succulentum, griquense, and bispinosum.
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P. succulentum flower

P. lealii


P. densiflorum


P. eburneum


That's all for tonight, more tomorrow.

Wonderful plants, keep the photos coming! Spring is definitely here.

The flowers on brevicaule opened yesterday



21 heads on this lamerei (12 inch pot)

@Baja_Costero Great looking lamerei with amazing branching. I also have lamerei in a 12" pot. Or I should say had. It's a clay pot and the plant roots broke the pot to pieces and it's now rooted into the ground.



I'm planning to uproot and pot it in a larger pot but the size is preventing me from doing that by myself without damaging the plant. I need to enlist the help of a brave neighbor due to the weight and thorns.

@Wildbloomers to the Pachypodium chat!!
Awesome to see some of your photos of specimens!!

And awseome @Baja_Costero to see your P. brevicaule flowering! I wish I could get you to collect pollen for me from that gem!

Got some good branching this last season out of my other 3 branch P. gracilius! Can't wait to see this guys secondary shoots lengthen this year! Should get two-3 branches off each branch developing.

So this plant that was just absolutely stunning


Last year, or the year before the same cat Ollie got hungry and not only ate the leaves but ate into the actual branches, it was a little heartbreaking but it has now produced branches with many multiple growing points on 11 of the branches. I'm time it should completely heal, but it will be interesting to see how it grows it and if all of them push growth this year!

I find it fascinating how these plants respond to injury. It's like all those heads just flowered, the urge to branch afterwards is unstoppable. I think the plant will be even more stunning if those baby branches all grow out.

Baja_Costero said: I find it fascinating how these plants respond to injury. It's like all those heads just flowered, the urge to branch afterwards is unstoppable. I think the plant will be even more stunning if those baby branches all grow out.

Yeah It is very interesting how they respond to injury! Its interesting how they are not prone to high levels of branching without injury, but after injury they shoot out multiple from one location. I have only seen this on the 'rosulatum' group in the ones I have grown. I think it will be stunning too, it was just in very pleasing proportions before! I think Ive shown you the Pachypodium saundersii 'campacta' of mine that developed a rotten spot after being in too small of a pot and it healed and now has a big cavity in it, it is amazing that such an injury to the caudex did not kill it, fascinating!! Ill try and rememeber to drop a photo of it in here later today, and maybe in the cactus chat.

I have intentionally damaged lamerei stems (your generic beheading) and the branching response afterward was good. The main stem on the lamerei I recently shared a picture of (center in the photo) actually died back for some reason (unprovoked, as far as I can tell) and now there are 7 heads in its place, which is definitely a major improvement. The main stem on my namaquanum also went through a period when it was questioning life, and a bunch of new heads sprouted below that point, before it recovered (sort of).

I received this tiny Brevicaule as a gift, what is the general care for it?

Strong light, regular water, don't let the soil go dry all the way.

Ooh ok

I agree with Baja, during the growing season while it has leaves don't let it go 100% dry, but during dormancy restrict water as they in my experience are especially prone to root rot, and especially so at that size.

Pachypodium gracilius blooming together at the same time! Hopefully I'll get to pollinate them together this year or the humming bird does it for me on the opening soon blooms. Hopefully there's still some unopened blooms left when I get back to harvest the pollen to do some other interesting crosses.








Facing out to get naturally pollinated

I will never be able to see that plant again without imagining the fearsome Gracilius Cyclops.