''Alluaudia ascendens'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of '' Alluaudia'' endemic to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

.''Alluaudia''.
Madagascar Catalogue. eFloras. It can reach 15 m in height. Its local name is fantsiolotse.

Range and habitat

''Alluaudia ascendens'' is native to

Anosy Anosy is one of the 23 regions of Madagascar. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the eastern side of what was once the Toliara Province. The name ''Anosy'' means "island(s)" in Malagasy. Due to a strategic sea route running alon ...

region of southern Madagascar, where it is found in Taolagnaro, Andohahela, Ankodida, Behara-Tranomaro, and Ifotaky. The species' estimated

extent of occurrence Extent may refer to: Computing * Extent (file systems), a contiguous region of computer storage medium reserved for a file * Extent File System, a discontinued file system implementation named after the contiguous region * Extent, a chunk of st ...

(EOO) is 2,417 km², and its estimated

area of occupancy Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-dimen ...

(AOO) is 44 km² it is native to the southeastern portion of the

Madagascar spiny thickets The Madagascar spiny forests (also known as the Madagascar spiny thickets) is an ecoregion in the southwest of Madagascar. The vegetation type is found on poor substrates with low, erratic winter rainfall. The ecoregion contains an outstanding pr ...

ecoregion, where it inhabits dry spiny thicket and dry degraded thicket from sea level up to 499 meters elevation. ''Alluaudia ascendens'' is found in the open upper canopy of the thickets, in association with the baobab ''

Adansonia za ''Adansonia za'' is a species of baobab in the genus ''Adansonia'' of the family Malvaceae (previously included in the Bombacaceae). It was originally named in French as . Common names in Malagasy include , , , , , and , the last of which giv ...

Alluaudia procera ''Alluaudia procera'', or Madagascar ocotillo, is a deciduous succulent plant species of the family Didiereaceae. It is endemic to south Madagascar. Description This plant is a spiny succulent shrub, with thick water-storing stems and leaves th ...

Operculicarya decaryi ''Operculicarya decaryi'', known as elephant tree or jabily, is a thick stemmed succulent plant species in the family (biology), family Anacardiaceae, named after the botany, botanical collector :fr:Raymond Decary, Raymond Decary. It is found in ...

, Commiphora aprevalii'', and '' Tetrapterocarpon geayi''.

Ecology

''Alluaudia ascendens'' is pollinated by bats.

Verreaux's sifaka Verreaux's sifaka (''Propithecus verreauxi''), or the white sifaka, is a medium-sized primate in one of the lemur families, the Indriidae. Critically Endangered, it lives in Madagascar and can be found in a variety of habitats from rainforest to ...

(''Propithecus verrauxii''), a native lemur, consumes its flowers.

References

{{- Didiereaceae Endemic flora of Madagascar Flora of the Madagascar spiny thickets