''Pachypodium namaquanum'', also known as halfmens or elephants trunk, is a Southern African

succulent plant In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meanin ...

in the Dogbane family (''

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

''). The

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

name ''Pachypodium'' is from the Greek for 'thick foot', an allusion to its swollen base, while the species name ''namaquanum'' is a reference to

Namaqualand Namaqualand ( Khoikhoi: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoi people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River int ...

Distribution

The

is native to the arid, rocky mountains of the

Richtersveld The Richtersveld is a desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to cragg ...

in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and in southern

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. It is found in its greatest numbers in the Gariep Centre which has the greatest variety of succulents on earth. Rainfall here occurs mainly in winter and varies from 50 to 150 mm. Extremely arid conditions are to be found in the rain shadows of certain mountain ranges where the rainfall may be 15 mm or less. Thick fog moving inland from the Atlantic coast can add to the precipitation. Temperatures in summer may reach 50 °C.

Description

''Pachypodium namaquanum'' is a succulent single-stemmed plant growing to tall, occasionally up to . The warty trunk, thickset at the base and tapering to the top, is densely covered in sharp spines. Where damaged, the trunk produces side-branches that immediately curve back to the vertical. The very top of the plant is usually bent to the north, similar to the South American cactus '' Copiapoa cinerea''. There is a crown or tuft of undulate leaves at the apex of the trunk during the growing season which is throughout the winter months. The rosette of leaves is small out of all proportion to the size of the plant. The tubular velvet-textured flowers appear from August to October and result in twin seedpods in a V-shape. These split down one side to release the wind-dispersed plumed seeds. Seen from a distance, the plant has the appearance of a person trudging up a slope whence its common name of halfmens (

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

for 'semi-human'). It is also called elephant's trunk.Mannheimer et al. (eds.): ''Wildflowers of the southern Namib'', 2008, , p.186
Top 10 Ugly Plants

Conservation

The plant is

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

-listed as an Appendix 1 and 2 species, prohibiting trade unless the necessary certificates and permits have been obtained. The removal of this species by collectors poses a distinct threat to its survival.

Relationships

This plant belongs to the

family. There are 23 species of ''Pachypodium'' of which 18 occur in

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 ...

and 5 in southern Africa - three of these are succulent spiny shrubs while '' Pachypodium lealii'', also tree-sized, occurs in the

Kaokoveld The Kaokoveld Desert is a coastal desert of northern Namibia and southern Angola. Setting The Kaokoveld Desert occupies a coastal strip covering , from 13° to 21°S and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Namibian savanna woodl ...

Gallery

Image:Pachypodium_namaquanum_PICT2653.jpg,

, South Africa Image:Pachypodium_namaquanum_PICT2661.JPG, Richtersveld, South Africa Image:Pachypodium_namaquanum_PICT2667.JPG, Richtersveld, South Africa Image:Pachypodium_namaquanum_PICT2669.JPG, Richtersveld, South Africa

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q149354 namaquanum Flora of Namibia Flora of the Cape Provinces Trees of South Africa Near threatened flora of Africa Taxa named by William Henry Harvey