logo

Adenium obesum (Forssk.) Roem. & Schult.

Common name: Desert Rose, Desert Azalea, Mock Azalea
Desert rose is a succulent plant in the Apocynaceae (dog bane) family. Succulent, thick-stemmed shrub, crooked branches, often evergreen in cultivation, but deciduous in dry seasons, in cultivation to about 5 ft (~1.5 m) high. Leaves simple, lanceolate-obovate, in a loose spiral, crowded near stem tips, 5-15 cm long and about 0.6 cm wide, often glossy, margin entire, base tapering into a short petiole. Flowers showy, trumpet shaped, 2-5 × 4-6 cm, in small terminal clusters; red or pink, rarely white, sometimes with a white center or “eye”. It is often used as a houseplant for its beautiful flowers and charming, small tree-like shape. In the summer bell-shaped flowers are red to shades of pink. The leaves can be green to variegated. Fruit are slender, green, pod-like follicles up to 4 inches (10 cm) long; when mature they split open to release many long, narrow, silky seeds.
Grow this plant in full sun in potting soil appropriate for cacti and succulents in a pot with several drainage holes. Allow the plant to dry between waterings but water during growing periods, thought it is quite drought tolerant.
References
1. https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/adenium-obesum
2. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/adenium-obesum/