Adenium obesum

Adeniums are succulent pachycaul (with thicker stems) shrubs or trees that have a distinctive swollen base (caudex), much of which can be subterranean. The caudex can vary in shape above ground from virtually globose to conical before it narrows and splits into multiple branches with erratic spacing. The plants’ look and flower display vary in their natural location, but they typically have a moderate growth rate and a lengthy lifespan, lasting for hundreds of years. Often, a distinct caudex is no longer discernible in cultivated, mature specimens. With terminal, spirally organized, tiny, glossy green leaves, the branches are smooth, greyish green to brown. Winters are dry and sufficiently cold in places where they are native, causing a period of hibernation and the corresponding loss of leaves. In South Florida, plants frequently lose some of their leaves in the winter, especially during periods of extended dryness and coolness. They never truly go into hibernation, though.