Pachypodium mikea???

[Nick_G]

Here's Pachypodium mikea on the road to Salary, north of Ifaty, southeast Madagascar. You can see some seed pods on it.

Can anyone name either the bird top left or the rather shady looking character bottom right?

And here's a young one.

[Colin Walker]

Wow how interesting. I've never seen a photo of a seedling of P. mikea before and great to see the habitat shots too.

For those who don't know this sp. it was only described in 2005. It occurs in SW Madagascar between Morombe and Toliara and is obviously a close relative of the more familiar P. lamerei and P. geayi.

For those of you into pachypodiums I strongly recommend the following new book:

Walter Roosli. (2018) Pachypodiums in Madagascar. (Roosli BTW should have umlauts over both os but quickly I can't work out how to do that here!)

Anyhow, the book is a guide to Madagascan pachypodiums crammed full of excellent habitat shots and fairly cheaply priced at a mere £18, available in this new English edition from Keith Larkin. Hey Keith, if you're listening in, my fee for this free publicity is very modest

[conolady]

I agree, it's a terrific book. I bought it for my husband who raises hundreds of Pachypodium and Adenium from seed, much of it his own. He's got to sell some next year cos were running out of space!

[Tony R]

(Roosli BTW should have umlauts over both os but quickly I can't work out how to do that here!)

My tip/trick for getting such 'symbols' onto the Forum is to write it in MSWord and then copy/paste:

Röösli

[Colin Walker]

I agree, it's a terrific book. I bought it for my husband who raises hundreds of Pachypodium and Adenium from seed, much of it his own. He's got to sell some next year cos were running out of space!

I'm impressed that hubby produces his own seed - great stuff

Pity Exeter is so far away from me 'cos I'd certainly be interested in some of your "spare" seedlings, especially if you have the newer spp. such as P. mikea, eburneum and inopinatum

Just a suggestion: is there anyway you could get to sell some of your spares at next year's AGM in Leicester in April since I'm sure you'd have a captive market?

[Colin Walker]

(Roosli BTW should have umlauts over both os but quickly I can't work out how to do that here!)

My tip/trick for getting such 'symbols' onto the Forum is to write it in MSWord and then copy/paste:

Röösli

I know Tony that what you suggest was one option but this morning I didn't bother

[conolady]

I agree, it's a terrific book. I bought it for my husband who raises hundreds of Pachypodium and Adenium from seed, much of it his own. He's got to sell some next year cos were running out of space!

I'm impressed that hubby produces his own seed - great stuff

Pity Exeter is so far away from me 'cos I'd certainly be interested in some of your "spare" seedlings, especially if you have the newer spp. such as P. mikea, eburneum and inopinatum

Just a suggestion: is there anyway you could get to sell some of your spares at next year's AGM in Leicester in April since I'm sure you'd have a captive market?

It's possible, Colin. It depends on our dear old dog who needs peace and quiet and us around. And it's not just her that's old and tired either! I'll tell him, though, and will let you know when and where stuff is up for sale if we don't get there. I don't know what he's got exactly till he gets back later.

[conolady]

Here's Pachypodium mikea on the road to Salary, north of Ifaty, southeast Madagascar. You can see some seed pods on it.

Can anyone name either the bird top left or the rather shady looking character bottom right?

DSCN5917.JPG

And here's a young one.

Super pics, Nick! What a treat to see them.

DSCN5919.JPG

[Colin Walker]

Hi Conolady (sorry, but I don't know your name),

If your good selves can't make the AGM or some other major event north of Watford next year, maybe some other kind friend might be able to assist in moving these plants northwards.

Sorry, but I'm now living north of Glasgow which makes visiting Exeter a major expedition

I would love to acquire some new pachypodiums though.

[kohinoor]

From the species protologue. These two species are very similar to each other and their difference are quantitative rather than qualitative.It is better to ID pachy with multiple trait rather then 1 single trait.

geayi:
spine in groups of 3 rarely 4 or even5
Spine tomentose when young
Spine equal or semi-equal in length

leaf 6~43 cm long 1-3.5cm wide
leaf midrib often pink
secondary vine 60~85 pairs

mikea:
spine in groups of 3 rarely 4
Spine tomentose when young
Central Spine slightly shorter

leaf 11~18 cm long 2.4-2.8cm wide
leaf midrib light green
secondary vine 55~65 pairs

other trait like the shape of tree crown or trunk is not helpful here.

THE ONLY QUALITATIVE DIFFERENT IS FLOWER.
Mikea has pure white flower with stander pachy shape. Very similar to P.lameri
Geayi has lime green or faint yellow flower,petal reflex backward and exposed stamen. One of kind.

From my personal observation on picture of internet.
Mikea has more hanging loosely branch crown.
Geay has more erect and dichotomous branch crown.

your plant has a stunning red midrib,it's a predominantly geayi trait. I will bet mt money on geayi.

Reference:
Pachypodium mikea a new arborescent species from Madagascar
Author(s): J. O. N. A. S. LÜTHY
Source: Cactus and Succulent Journal, 77(4):178-186.