PlantFiles: Madagascar Palm
Pachypodium geayi

This is one of the two most commonly sold and grown Pachypodiums in California (but not the most common- that is P lamerii). It is often confused with that more common plant, but distinguished by having thinner leaves accented with a prominent midrib of a different color than the rest of the leaf. The leaves, compared to most other Pachypodiums, are less green, though if watered well and happy, the leaves are green.. just a duller and darker shade of green. Plants that are stressed a bit by intense heat, cold or lack of water tend to have darker leaves, still, almost purply in color. THe body of this plant is too similar for me to tell it apart from the more commonly grown and sold Pachypodium lamerii, and it is very spiny and dangerous to hold/plant. In my experience, at least here in southern CAlifornia, this is the slower growing plant (barely) if conditions are ideal, and given plenty of water in the warmer months. This plant is from the more dry areas of Madagascar, and is perhaps more prone to rot than P lamerii (the 'other' Madagascar 'Palm'), though I have not noticed that. P lamerii is from a much wetter climate in Madagascar, and truly loves to be watered a lot in the summers, make it grow faster and faster. This is a great accent plant, and though it is listed here as growing 12-15 feet tall, that is in many years. Most plants I have seen are 2-5' tall and, at least here in so Cal, rarely flower, or less rarely than the P lamerii.

The most common Pachypodium and maybe the easiest to maintain.Looks as if originaly collected on Mars! Fast grower for a Pachy. I have seen large ones kept outdoors all year in the Bay Area but,they were in pots barely larger then the trunks and under overhangs. As always, the key to keeping a borderline tropical is keeping the soil dryish and fast draining so air can permeate. I have never seen a geayi in flower.

This is a fantastic plant !! I have 2. I got the first one around 1977 at a new supermarket. They had a whole rack of them & all were about 3 or 4" tall. I thought they were cute & unusual.Madagascar Palm aka Pachypodium Lamerei the sign said. I got the other one a year or so later. Anyhow the first one is now 6' tall measured from trunk to top. It's in a huge tall clay pot which makes it seem to be at least a 1.5 feet taller.It has 2 big branches & a bud branch off one of them. One branch is about to BLOOM!!! This is the 3rd blooming. I forget the first year it bloomed,but the 2nd time was around 2000 I think. The branches develop where the flowers were.Both of these plants are real conversation pieces & attention getters. I know no one else who has them.The thorns are horrifying; very long & sharp as needles.Believe me,you'll only bump into that plant ONCE. I've heard that it will only bloom after it's about 3' tall. It was about that at first bloom.The 2nd plant is about 5' 2" tall & has never bloomed.It has one branch that developed after it fell over & broke. I live in Southeast PA & keep them indoors from cool fall to late spring.They're out all summer. They get fed Miracle Gro. I worry about getting the big one in & out of the house thru the door since it touches the top of the door now. Eventually there'll be the ceiling.......Can you trim these plants ?

This plant was purchased in 1980, when it was about 8 inches high. It grew (as an indoor plant) to a height of 7-8 feet. I never saw it bloom, but it was always producing leaves. In the last 4 months, it stopped producing leaves. Today, I lost a conversations piece. The bottom of the trunk rotted and the plant folded about 4 inches from the base. The remainder of the plant seems solid. I cut the trunk into 6 inch lengths and I'll let them callous. Hopefully, by planting them in a sandy soil, they will propogate and I'll have small palms. This was a terrific house plant!

Fast growing and good indoors if it has good drainage and lots of light. Magnificent form/accent plant.