''Pachypodium lealii'', the bottle tree, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

included in the ''genus'' ''

Pachypodium ''Pachypodium'' is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Madagascar and Africa. It belongs to the family Apocynaceae. Genus characteristics All ''Pachypodium'' are succulent plants that exhibit, to varying degrees, the ...

''. The scientific name derives from the 19th century

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

Fernando da Costa Leal, who described the bottle tree during an exploration in southern

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. This species can be either a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

or a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

up to 6 meters tall and is characterized by the thick bottle-shaped trunk, which is almost branchless until the top. The branches are few and covered by slender thorns up to 30 cm long.

Leave Leave may refer to: * Permission (disambiguation) ** Permitted absence from work *** Leave of absence, a period of time that one is to be away from one's primary job while maintaining the status of employee *** Annual leave, allowance of time away ...

s are oblong and are covered with short hairs on both surfaces. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s, shown below in detail, are present in the spring, when the tree is leafless. The white flowers, characteristic of the family Apocynaceae, cluster around the tips of the branches. The plant produces a watery latex, rich in toxic alkaloids, used by local populations as arrow poison for hunting. In contact with the eyes this latex can produce blindness.

Distribution and habitats

Distribution

The bottle tree is an endemic species of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and southern

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

where it occupies the semi-desert areas and dry bushvelds, usually along rocky hillsides. It is especially common in the Etendeka plateau of NE Namibia, where it can be seen growing in the

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

slopes.

Habitat

Altitudinal range of this species is 1000–1600 metres above sea level. The extreme temperatures range from an occasional -10 °C to as much to 45 °C.

Protection status

Pachypodium lealii doesn't appear to be under significant threat, but the lack of young specimens, and the removal of wild plants for trade, is a concern in Namibia. It is listed on Appendix II of

CITES CITES (shorter name 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 interna ...

, which makes it an offence to trade these plants internationally without a permit.

References

*C.Michael Hogan ed. 2010
''Pachypodium lealii''. Encyclopedia of Life
*A.van Wyk and P.van Wyk. ''Trees of Southern Africa''

Gallery

Pachypodium lealii 3.JPG Bottle-tree(flowers).jpg Flaschenbaum.jpg Pachypodium lealii 2.JPG {{Taxonbar, from=Q310804 lealii Flora of Africa Caudiciform plants