An Adenium Website
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Superior Cultivars of Hybrids containing Adenium "arabicum", "obesum", & crispum
This is my favorite adenium breeding line; see the hybrid page for details. In short, plants with this parentage grow fast to about 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, with good caudexes, sturdy stems, and brightly colored flowers most of the year. They are tetraploid, which gives them extra sturdiness and vigor. They're very tolerant of high heat, near-freezing temperatures, and overwatering. Oh - and they're all evergreen. No more panicking when the leaves all turn yellow and fall off.
This is a new line of breeding that I began in 2010, so there are very few good cultivars to date.
'Beautiful Loser' (MAD532)
Parentage: Adenium "obesum" x "arabicum" x crispum complex hybrid
(A. "arabicum" x "obesum") 'MAD421' x (A. "obesum" x crispum) 'Happy Princess'
Creator: Dimmitt 2009
Plant form: Amazingly vigorous, floppy shrub with giant caudex. Evergreen. Tetraploid.
Flower: Round, 60 mm diameter x 23 mm petal width. Petals light red, mostly covered by heavy dark red lines. At the juncture of each two petals, there is a yellow protuberance (? don't know what to call it). Petals tend to quill as they age. Throat yellow, but mostly obscured by prominent red nectar guides. Always in bloom, often profusely.
Notes: This was my first arabicum-obesum-crispum hybrid. Only one seed germinated from the cross, and it grew like a weed. I was really excited about it, until it developed its mature form at about 5 years. Super-fast growth, huge caudex, perpetually in bloom with superb flowers. What's wrong with it? If it wasn't brutally pruned and staked, the stems would be lying on the ground! I would have thrown it out, but it redeems itself by being the most fertile breeder in my tetraploid line. It will cross with nearly every other 4n plant that I've matched it with. Its good traits usually come through in the offspring (including the yellow thingys at the throat), and sometimes the floppy stems are lost.
Above: The original seedling of adenium 'Beautiful Loser' at 12 years old in a 16-inch pot. Notice all the stakes. In addition, I have pruned off far more biomass than is currently present.
Above: The flowers of adenium 'Beautiful Loser'. There must be a term for those yellow bumps? Only a few adeniums have such prominent ones.
Above: The original seedling of adenium 'Nearly Perfect #776' at 7 years old in a 16-inch pot.
Above: The original seedling of 'Nearly Perfect #776' at 8 years old.
'Nearly Perfect #776'
Parentage: Adenium "obesum" x "arabicum" x crispum complex hybrid
('Beautiful Loser' x 'Prolific Behemoth')
Creator: Dimmitt 2012
Plant form: Vigorous, upright shrub with large caudex and main stems. Evergreen. Tetraploid
Flower: Round, 75 mm diameter x 30 mm petal width. Petals crimson with no fading toward the throat, and large, slightly darker red blotch in petal center. At the juncture of each two petals, there is a yellow protuberance (? don't know what to call it). Throat yellow, but mostly obscured by prominent red nectar guides. Always in bloom, with heavy flushes two or three times a year.
Notes: Nearly Perfect is a group term that I use for a few plants that are very similar in being upright shrubs with big caudexes and dark red flowers over a long season. So far only two clones have been selected: MAD776 and MAD777. They also grow superbly from cuttings; no need to graft.
Above: The flower of adenium 'Nearly Perfect #776'.
Above: A 1-year-old cutting of 'Nearly Perfect #776'.
Above: The original seedling of adenium 'Nearly Perfect #776' at 8 years old in a 16-inch pot.
Right: Another clone of the Nearly Perfect group: 'Nearly Perfect #777' at 8 years old in a 16-inch pot. Inset: the flower. It's almost identical to #776.
'Radiant Dawn' (MAD689)
Parentage: Adenium "obesum" x "arabicum" x crispm complex hybrid ((A. "obesum" x crispum) 'Lily') x a 4th generation (A. "arabicum"-"obesum"-crispum) 'MAD610))
Creator: Dimmitt 2011
Plant form: Medium-sized, spreading shrub with very large caudex. Grows to about 3 feet tall and wide in 10 years. Evergreen. Tetraploid
Flower: Round, 72 mm diameter x 29 mm petal width. Petals pink with many darker pink lines. Throat yellow with prominent red nectar guides. Always in bloom, with heavy flushes two or three times a year.
Notes: This clone grows easily from cuttings; no need to graft.
Above left: The original seedling of adenium 'Radiant Dawn' at 9 years old in a 16-inch pot. Right: the same plant at 11 years.
Above: The flowers of adenium 'Radiant Dawn'.
Above: The original seedling of adenium 'Starbright' at 10 years old in a 16-inch pot.
'Starbright' (MAD819)
Parentage: Adenium "obesum" x "arabicum" x crispum complex hybrid
'Beautiful Loser' x a 4th generation (A. "arabicum"-"obesum"-crispum) 'MAD650))
Creator: Dimmitt 2012
Plant form: Compact, spreading shrub with modest caudex. Grows to about 3 feet tall and wide in 10 years. Sturdy stems need no pruning. Evergreen. Tetraploid
Flower: Star-shaped, 76 mm diameter x 28 mm petal width. Petals open flat, but become recurved and quilled after a few days; pink base nearly obscured by nearly solid red streaking. Throat yellow with prominent red nectar guides. Always in bloom, with heavy flushes two or three times a year. High flower count, up to 16 per inflorescence.
Notes: This clone grows easily from cuttings; no need to graft.
Above: The flowers of adenium 'Starbright'.
'St. Elmo's Fire' (MAD783)
Parentage: Adenium "obesum" x "arabicum" x crispum complex hybrid ('Beautiful Loser' x (lost label pollen parent)
Creator: Dimmitt 2012
Plant form: Medium-sized, spreading shrub with very large caudex. Grows to about 3 feet tall and wide in 10 years. Evergreen. Tetraploid.
Flower: Round, 65 mm diameter x 24 mm petal width. Petals pink with many red lines. Throat yellow with prominent red nectar guides. Always in bloom, with heavy flushes two or three times a year.
Notes: This clone grows easily from cuttings; no need to graft.
I love seedlings that flower at only a year old. Precocious! (and precious)
Above: The flower of adenium 'St. Elmo's Fire'.
Above: The original seedling of adenium 'St. Elmo's Fire' at 8 years old in a 16-inch pot.
'Tetra Splash #927')
Parentage: Adenium "obesum" x "arabicum" x crispum complex hybrid
('Beautiful Loser' x 'MAD 743')
Creator: Dimmitt 2013
Plant form: Medium-sized, upright shrub with good caudex. Grows to about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide in 10 years. Evergreen. Tetraploid.
Flower: Round, 100 mm diameter x 46 mm petal width. Petals white with large red center blotch and narrow red edge. Throat yellow with faint nectar guides. Blooms several times a year.
Notes: This clone grows easily from cuttings; no need to graft.
