Bushbernie's Garden
Desert Rose
Genus: Adenium.
Species: Adenium obesum.
A semi-succulent shrub that can grow to around 3 metres in tropical or semi-tropical regions.
It has thickened lower stems and a swollen base. The bark is smooth and grey.
Flowers are long, funnel-shaped, five-lobed and clustered at the end of branches. They are white, pink or red in colour, often pale with a darker margin.
Leaves are leathery in texture, clustered towards the ends of the branches and spirally arranged.
The fruit of this plant are tapered pods borne in pairs, grey or grey brown in colour, around 15-16 cms long. These pods contain long narrow cylindric seeds that are tipped at each end with a tuft of long silky golden-brown hairs.
All parts of this plant are potentially toxic if ingested! Symptoms may include slow heart beat, low blood pressure, lethargy, dizziness and stomach upset.
