Spiny plant trunk.

Ouch! I wouldn't want to get caught up on one of those spikes!

You must have to work round it very carefully, Stan...

Oh my goodness, how dangerous it looks!

Fantastic looking trunk, Stan, but fierce!!!!!

Looks fierce,yet this plant is sensitive to water at the roots in winter. Very large ones have collapsed in even a Los Angeles winter. I think mine being next to a sidewalk and raised a bit is doing well. Not exactly tropical fast growing, 8" or so to 6' in 15 years!

I posted a pic of a 30 plus foot Pachypodium lamerei in the Palm Springs botanical garden. I can’t remember if it had spines all the way up the trunk. I posted a pic on GoY of the tree back in 2012.

I saw that. It was tall but not old. Old ones in Madagascar trunks turn almost white,smooth. Yet,at the top they may have only three branches..to feed 30' of fat trunk somewhere around the middle of the plant. Must vary from plant to plant.
The Los Angeles arboretum a decade ago+, planted many that were as large as can be bought..in crates they were so big. Some died,others must be over 20' by now with those golden trunks...that,again,become white in great age.
Ah,just noticed- look at the very base of mine. Smooth and light colored. THAT'S what the whole trunk gets in a half century I guess-ha.

Stan,

It was an old Pachypodium which was planted in the early 80’s (if I’m not mistaken it was 6 ft tall when planted in the ground). I got the history from the worker at the botanical gardens.