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Alluaudia procera Drake Madagascar ocotillo
Madagascar ocotillo is named after its similar-appearing, but unrelated, North American counterpart, ocotillo. (This is another example of "convergent evolution," in which unrelated plants evolve into closely similar shapes to fulfill similar ecological niches in different locations.) Madagascar ocotillo is a deciduous succulent tree native to Madagascar, part of its "spiny forest," and not found in North America. Identification: These plants begin as a tangle of stems. Eventually one stem dominates and the rest die. The surviving stem is tall (up to 59′ (18 m) in the wild), narrow, rarely branched. It is gray-green to bone white, with raised ridges armed with tightly spaced rigid, sharp spines, each about ⅜″ (1 cm) long. Often leafless in high heat, it forms small oval leaflets ⅜-1¾″ (1-5 cm) long during wet periods. Flowers are yellowish-white, occurring in thick branching clusters at the stem tips.
Alluaudia procera (Madagascar octotillo) at the spiny forest, Ifaty, Madagascar. By JialiangGao at www.peace-on-earth.org. Online References:
Cactus Art: the World of Cacti & Succulents The University of Connecticut Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Plant Growth Facilities References:
Sajeva, Maurizo & Costanzo, Mariangela, Succulents: The Illustrated Dictionary, Timber Press, 1994, p. 42
2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California · ≈ 3½ × 5′ (1 × 1.6 m)
4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm)
Alluaudia procera description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 6 May 2023.
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4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 1 × 2′ (41 × 62 cm)
4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 2 × 1′ (62 × 41 cm)
The ropy growth in the background is the Madagascar ocotillo. The foreground cactus is probably a young saguaro. · 4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland Range: Zones 9b-11:
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ID is uncertain 
