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Alluaudia procera Drake

Madagascar ocotillo

ParentsUnknownGenus is not in the current taxonomy
GenusAlluaudia
SpeciesproceraTall or slender

About plant names...

Madagascar ocotillo is named after its similar-appearing, but unrelated, North American counterpart, ocotillo. (This is another example of "convergent evolution," in which unrelated plants evolve into closely similar shapes to fulfill similar ecological niches in different locations.) Madagascar ocotillo is a deciduous succulent tree native to Madagascar, part of its "spiny forest," and not found in North America.

Identification: These plants begin as a tangle of stems. Eventually one stem dominates and the rest die. The surviving stem is tall (up to 59′ (18 m) in the wild), narrow, rarely branched. It is gray-green to bone white, with raised ridges armed with tightly spaced rigid, sharp spines, each about ⅜″ (1 cm) long. Often leafless in high heat, it forms small oval leaflets ⅜-1¾″ (1-5 cm) long during wet periods. Flowers are yellowish-white, occurring in thick branching clusters at the stem tips.

Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo)

Alluaudia procera (Madagascar octotillo) at the spiny forest, Ifaty, Madagascar. By JialiangGao at www.peace-on-earth.org.

Online References:

Cactus Art: the World of Cacti & Succulents

SucculentGuide.com

The University of Connecticut Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Plant Growth Facilities

References:

Sajeva, Maurizo & Costanzo, Mariangela, Succulents: The Illustrated Dictionary, Timber Press, 1994, p. 42

Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo)

2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, Cali­fornia · ≈ 3½ × 5′ (1 × 1.6 m) ID is uncertain

Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo)

4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Mary­land · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)

 

Alluaudia procera description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 6 May 2023.

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Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo)

4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Mary­land · ≈ 1 × 2′ (41 × 62 cm)

Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo)

4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Mary­land · ≈ 2 × 1′ (62 × 41 cm)

Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo)

The ropy growth in the background is the Madagascar ocotillo. The foreground cactus is probably a young saguaro. · 4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Mary­land

Range: Zones 9b-11:

About this map...