''Adenium arabicum'' is a species of succulent plant commonly used for

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

and cultivated for its shiny leaves, growth form and flowering characteristics. Common names include desert rose, elephant's foot, and Adan bush. They are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy i ...

and self-sterile. ''A. arabicum'' is native to

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. The leaves of this species have a broad surface. Leaves also tend to be large and somewhat leathery in appearance. Growth form is squat and fat, with a definite

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a Plant stem, stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, " ...

and without much differentiation between trunk and branches. Bark may appear a purplish to dark brown color.

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

range from pink to reddish pink. They are tubular, often appear for 2-3 days, and may appear before the leaves. ''A. arabicum'' prefers full sun, and is suitable for US hardiness zones 10 and 11.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4682224 Plants used in bonsai arabicum Caudiciform plants