h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Kudu Lily, Pachypodium saundersii, is actually not a lily at all. 'True' lilies are monocotyledonous plants, while the Kudu Lily is dicotyledonous. It belongs to the Oleander family, and a genus of which the greatest number of species occur in Madagascar, where a few become tall trees forming the unique 'spiny forest' of the southwestern corner of the island, where lemurs and sifakas manage to leap from tree to tree while skilfully avoiding the dense thorns.

But the Kudu Lily is one of the four South African species, the only of which reaches tree size being the Halfmens, Pachypodium namaquanum, of the Richtersveld. The Kudu Lily is more of a succulent shrub, reaching about 1.5 m (5 ft) in height. It can develop a very thick basal stem of up to almost a metre in width. From this thick stem thinner, spiny branches arise, bearing leaves and - in late Summer - flowers at the tips.

Here are a couple of my own plants. They are still small but already flowering beautifully. The trunks are still small - they get very fat later in life:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Weird%20and%20Wonderful%20Plants/Pachypodiumsaundersii1a.jpg

Here's a close-up of the flowers:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Weird%20and%20Wonderful%20Plants/Pachypodiumsaundersii2a.jpg

This species is easily grown from seeds. It prefers a hot, sunny climate with dry, frost-free winters. Its natural range is the northeastern parts of South Africa, and also Swaziland. It usually grows between rocks. In cultivation it does well in open beds in the right climate, or in clay pots. In Winter it loses its leaves and should not be watered again until Spring, otherwise it may rot.

They are such pretty delicate flowers Willem, and beautifully photographed. Congratulations on growing another such interesting specimen. Did you propagate it from seed? It is so exciting when a plant flowers for the first time for you, isn't it?

Hello Lanzababy, thanks for your reply! Actually this is not the first time this species has flowered here; these I grew from seeds from plants that flowered earlier. I have dozens of specimens. But right now, these two are flowering the most prettily! I have a fat one as well, I'll see about photographing it tomorrow.