“Madagascar Palm” Pachypodium lamerei

The Madagascar Palm, Pachypodium lamerei, looks like it has an identity crisis.  On the one hand, it wants to be the center of attention with its regal crown of slender leaves, but on the other hand, it has trouble letting people get too close. Unfortunately for tree huggers, the Madagascar Palm is actually a succulent, and its sharp spikes enforce the physical boundaries it insists on. Hailing, unsurprisingly, from Madagascar, this Beauty can grow up to six feet in a cooler indoor environment. In an ideal outdoor environment, though, the Pachypodium lamerei can grow from 15 to 30 feet!

While it is difficult to mistake the Madagascar Palm, it actually has an identical twin.  The Pachypodium Geayi is nearly identical when both are adolescents. The key difference between the two is that the Lamerei has thicker and shorter green leaves, while the Pachypodium Geayi has longer thin leaves with a pink midrib. The Pachypodium Geayi is also known as Silver Madagascar Palm, due to the slight silver tint of the leaves.  The Lamerei is a slightly faster grower that is reportedly more likely to create branches, but the Geayi typically grows larger.   Unlike the Pachypodium Ambongense or the Pachypodium Horombenset, the Pachypodium Lamerei rarely grows limbs in an indoor environment.  In its home soil of Madagascar, it often grows beautiful branches, further likening itself to a tree.

I have read claims that the sap of the Pachypodium lamerei was/is used by Madagascar natives to poison the tips of arrows.  This seems to be somewhat supported by the paper “THE MIKEA HUNTER-GATHERERS OF SOUTHWEST MADAGASCAR: ECOLOGY AND SOCIOECONOMICS” by Daniel Stiles, which claims that the Mikea people of Southwest Madagascar use Pachypodium geayi (known to them as “Vontakay”) as a poison to hunt native bush pig as well as to make bark cloth. The Pachypodium geayi and Pachypodium lamerei are nearly identical in appearance, and in western literature, both species are attributed to the Malagasy names: Vontakay and Vontaka. Although differnent species, they are likely similar enough to both be used for poisoned arrows.

Additionally, as a nerdy side note, “Star Trek – The Next Generation fans” will note that this alien-looking succulent is at the back of Counselor Troi’s office.

Young Pachypodium lamerei are not very difficult to find online or in specialty plant shops.  A plant about a foot tall will run you about $50.  Due to its slow growth and unwieldy size, fully mature plants are more difficult to come by and are significantly more expensive.