The Desert Rose, an unusual houseplant
Still too little known, the Desert Rose has always been one of our favorite tropical plants. Original silhouette, fast and long flowering, limited space and easy culture, it has everything to be an ideal houseplant!
We tell you more about this fake baobab!
A succulent plant !
Member of the Apocynaceae family, the Desert Rose, Adenium obesum, is a succulent plant endemic to the semi-desert parts of eastern and southern Africa. It is also found today in West Africa, particularly in Senegal or Namibia. It has been classified in the Apocynaceae family because of its high content of alkaloids known for their toxicity.
Its name comes from the Arabic “aden”, in reference to the name of the port of Yemen from where they were first shipped to the West and the Latin word “obesum” which means obese. The genus Adenium has only one member, divided into six subspecies.
To adapt to a hostile environment, and to go through heat and drought easily, it stores water in the swollen part of its trunk, the caudex.
It is this bottle-shaped trunk that gives the Desert Rose all its charm, as it offers each one a unique shape.
An exotic perennial, the Desert Rose can grow up to three meters in its natural environment.
From its spectacular caudex escape ornamental short, irregular and fleshy branches.
They are adorned with lustrous oval leaves of a beautiful green
Its common names, asides of Desert rose are : Impala lily, Mock azalea, Kudu or Sabi star
Desert rose : both medicinal and poisonous plant
Despite the fact that its latex is toxic and used on arrows to hunt jackals, the Desert rose also has medicinal values.
Indeed most parts of the Adenium obesum are or were used in traditional medicine accross eastern Africa.
In Oman, a mixture prepared with the stemm, roots and leaves was used to treat STDs. In Somalia, part of the plants are used in treating nose infections. In Oman, again, skin deceases and lice, were treated using an Adenium obesum preparation.
In Nigeria, traditional medecine use different parts of the Desert rose to cure many illnesses, including : headache, joint and muscle pains, and various skin diseases.
Desert Rose, a spectacular flowering
If the unique silhouette of the Desert Rose makes all the charm of it (a “baobab” at home), its bloom is not in rest.
Traditionally pink, red or white, more rarely purple, this one intervenes during the summer.
If the plant adapts well, the first flowers, in flat cups and reminding those of the Laurel, can appear from the second year.
After a few years, this bloom can become quite spectacular. It is so long that the first flowers can arrive before the first leaves.
Adenium obesum, growing and caring
A perfect indoor plant !
The Desert Rose does not support the cold!
It can start to lose its leaves as soon as 13°C and does not support the least frost.
It will thus be cultivated inside in a pot or a tub.
You will place it in a bright and heated room. Make sure that the plant gets at least a few hours of direct sunlight every day.
At the end of spring or in summer you can acclimatize your Impala lily outside, it will be grateful to you. Beware of temperature differences though! Be sure to take it outside only when the night temperatures are above 10°C to avoid the back and forth with your interior.
The Desert Rose is particularly suitable for Bonsai cultivation.
Which potting soil to use for an Adenium obesum?
The Desert Rose needs a rich and well-drained potting soil. A classic potting soil will do very well.
We recommend you to lighten it with sand or perlite. The lady does not like stagnant water. Even if it is not necessary, you can put a layer of gravel or clay balls at the bottom of the pot, pierced, of course.
When to water a Desert Rose?
As we have written above, Adenium obesum stores water in its caudex. Watering should therefore be sparing and the substrate should be allowed to dry out between two waterings.
In spring and summer you should water once a week, twice in case of strong heat.
In winter, you should space out the watering (see below).
When to repot ?
Rather than using fertilizer, we recommend repotting your plant regularly; up to twice a year in the first few years.
Once in early spring, once in late summer.
Thereafter you should keep the spring repotting.
Only gradually increase the size of the pot so that it remains adapted to the root network.
Why does it lose its leaves?
After growing all spring and summer, the foliage of your little protégée starts to yellow and loses its beauty?
All or part of the leaves end up falling off?
Nothing serious!
Your Adenium obesum is going into winter/sleep, so space out the watering.
It will regain all its vigor in March.
