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Hybrids containing Adenium somalense nova & swazicum Waiting for contributions

Superior Cultivars of Adenium "obesum " Back to Gallery 'Amiability' 'Arrogant' 'Big Mama' 'Black Asia' 'Black Ruby' 'Daeng Siam' 'Golden Sun' 'Great General' 'Grumbley White' 'La Hong Thong' 'Home Run' 'Red Everbloomer' 'Red Henny 4n' 'Royal Robe' 'Snow Lotus' 'Tradewinds #20' 'Amiability' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: Received from Ming Huey Chen, Taiwan, with note: "Ming Huey #7, long-time favorite Taiwan Red strain. Looks like 'Daeng Nabanant, but much more vigorous. " Plant form: A sturdy, erect shrub, taller than wide, with large bright green leaves. Tends to be evergreen. Plant at right is 7 years old on a graft, about 3 feet x 2 feet. Flower: Round, 105 mm diameter x 50 mm petal width. Petals bright red with almost no fading near throat. Petals often have a narrow black edge in mild weather. Throat white with no nectar guides. Blooms mostly in spring and fall. Notes: As described above, this is an early member of the Taiwan Red strain, distinguished by their large bright green leaves and impressively big, bright red flowers. This clone's stems are unusually sturdy for the species. Left: Under ideal conditions, new flowers of 'Amiability' have a black edge, which fades with age as shown in the inflorescence at right. Back to Menu Above and below: A greenhouse full of 'Arrogant' at T.W. Lee's nursery in Taiwan. 'Arrogant' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: Unknown, Taiwan; widely produced by 2008. Plant form: A spreading shrub with small caudex when grown on own roots. Large bright green leaves, evergreen. Stems fairly sturdy for the species. Flower: Round, very large, 95 mm diameter x 41 mm petal width. Petals deep velvety red, with black margin in mild weather; almost no fading toward throat. Throat white or yellowish with faint nectar guides. Notes: This clone is one of the early members of the Taiwan Red strain, distinguished by their large bright green leaves and impressively big, bright red flowers. The cv. name 'Arrogant' is a literal translation of the Chinese name Chien Jiao (?); a better translation would be something like "Charming". Back to Menu Above: a flower of 'Arrogant' at its best. 'Big Mama' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: unknown Plant form: Giant shrub with massive caudex (swollen roots), much larger than is typical of the species. Flower: Small, star-shaped, petals have pink edge (closeup is oversaturated) with light pink interior, bright yellow throat with faint nectar guides. Notes: John Lucas formerly of Tradewinds South Nursery in Florida, pollinating 'Big Mama' in 1999. Photos: Walter Michot. Back to Menu '(Double) Black Asia' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: ? Plant form: Very weak stems can't support the heavy flowers; needs regular pruning. Flower: Fully double (flore pleno); in mild weather the petals are saturated dark red with sharp black edges. In hot weather or with age flowers are solid medium-red. The flowers often fail to open because the numerous petals get stuck. Notes: It isn't clear whether the cv. name should include "double". Back to Menu Right: The stems of this cv. are too weak to support the flowers. 'Black Ruby' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator/Origin: Discovered in a Florida nursery by James Georgusis and introduced by John Lucas of Tradewinds South Nursery in the early 1990s. Plant form: Medium-sized shrub with an unusually well-developed conical caudex for this species; stems typically weak. Flower: Semi-star-shaped, 83 mm diameter x 31 mm wide petals; petals deep red with sharp black margins; white throat with no nectar guides. In very hot weather the black margin does not develop and the flowers are medium-red. Blooms profusely in spring and sporadically at other seasons. Notes: This is one of the first bright red-flowered adeniums to appear in the USA. The plant looks like it may be of the Taiwan Red strain, but its origin has not been traced. It is the parent of numerous early hybrids. Above left: 'Black Ruby' in full bloom. The grafted plant is about 8 years old. Above right: A four-year-old cutting already has a good conical caudex. Back to Menu Above left: A new flower of 'Black Ruby' in perfect condition. Above right: In hot weather or with age the flowers lose the black edge. 'Daeng Siam' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: Unknown; probably originated in Taiwan, where almost all adenium breeders were at the time. I found it at Somsak's nursery in Bangkok in 2000. Plant form: Medium-sized, spreading shrub with modest caudex. Tends to be evergreen. Flower: Round, 88 mm diameter x 33 mm petal width. New flowers are red with narrow purple margins, fading in a week to rich pink with lavender margins. Throat yellowish to white with no nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring with a lesser flush in autumn. Notes : When I found this plant in 2000, the vendors were excited to promote the "new color". But I found almost identical plants under different names at other nurseries and in other countries, including Champoo Taiwan, Optimize, Red Sang Ped, and Daeng Saeng Petch. I also found a pure red "obesum" in Thailand named Daeng Siam. Whatever this clone is called, even better bicolors are available today. For example, see ' Royal Robe ' . Above: This four-year-old cutting of 'Daeng Siam' is about two feet tall and wide in a 14-inch pot. Near-right: A new flower of 'Daeng Siam' in perfect condition. Far right: An inflorescence showing color change with age. Back to Menu 'Golden Sun' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: Unknown, Taiwan before 2008. Plant form: Known only on grafts, it's a medium-sized shrub with very weak stems. Flower: Quite large, round: 97 mm diameter x 45 mm petal width. Petals white with broad deep red margin. Throat white with a few prominent nectar guides. Notes: There were already several cultivars with very similar flowers by 2008, and all that I saw had weak stems. This is pure A. "obesum ", not A. multiflorum , because it blooms during the warm season while in leaf. Some vendors erroneously sell such plants with picoteed flowers as multiflorum . Back to Menu Above: Adeniums with red-picoteed flowers are sometimes confused with A. multiflorum . But flowering in during the growing season with leaves is proof that they are A. "obesum ". Above: Five-year-old Adenium 'Great General' grafted onto a sturdy rootstock. Plant is about two feet high and three feet wide in a 14-inch pot. 'Great General' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: C.F. Chang, Taiwan, before 2008. Plant form: A large, vigorous, spreading to drooping shrub. Sold only as grafted plants; on its own roots it's a weak grower with almost no caudex. The stems are weak and need pruning every few years to maintain an attractive shape. Flower: Huge, round to nearly circular (if the petals were not ruffled), 98 mm diameter x 46 mm petal width. Petals intense crimson with almost no fading toward the throat. Throat pure white with no nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring. Notes: This cv. is outstanding for more than its huge almost 4-inch flowers. It's a natural tetraploid "obesum ", the only one that I've encountered. It can therefore hybridize with the naturally 4n species A. "arabicum " and its 4n interspecific hybrids. The offspring are often very large plants with huge deep red flowers; but the stems and caudexes still need improvement. Back to Menu Above: The magnificent flower of 'Great General'. 'Grumbley White' (aka 'Snowbell', Rowley 1999*), aka 'Ina White'? Parentage: Adenium "obesum" Origin: Wild origin. Plant form: Medium-sized, fairly erect shrub with small caudex. Flower: Star-shaped, 65 mm diameter x 18 mm petal width. Petals pure white; throat white with no nectar guides. Blooms mostly in spring. Notes : Ken Oulton of Malindi, Kenya collected it. Tom Grumbley, also of Malindi, propagated and shared it with Seymour Linden and Gerald Barad in the USA in 1992. They distributed it as 'Grumbley White'. At about the same time an apparently identical plant appeared in Asia called 'Ina White'. Rowley (1999) published the US cv. as 'Snowbell'. This clone is one of two that probably triggered the surge in adenium popularity that began in the 1990s. Combined with the introduction of 'Crimson Star', it showed Asian growers that adeniums could be had in colors other than the common pink. This spindly shrub and its small flowers are mediocre by today's standards, but most of the white-flowered A. "obesum" in cultivation are probably descended from 'Grumbley White'. Above: A 14-year-old cutting of 'Grumbley White' in a 16-inch pot. The stems are thin, but still sturdier than those of most "obesum". Left: The small flower of 'Grumbley White'. Check out modern white-flowered "obesum" cultivars to see what breeders have created from this humble wild plant. Back to Menu 'La Hong Thong' NEED PHOTO OF PLANT Parentage: Adenium "obesum" Origin: Unknown; already widely available in Bangkok, Thailand in 2000. Plant form: Medium-sized shrub with fairly sturdy stems and modest caudex. Tends to be evergreen. Flower: Round, medium-sized, 78 mm diameter x 32 mm petal width; outer 2/3 of petals bright red, fading to white at throat. Throat white with no nectar guides. One of the earliest adeniums to have a high flower count - more than twice the standard of 5 per inflorescence. Notes: This cv. is indistinguishable from 'Tropical Sun', which was sold in the USA in the early 2000s Back to Menu 'Home Run' Parentage: A. "obesum " Creator: Juin Shen Lee, Taiwan, before 2000. Plant form: Typical for the species: a weak-stemmed shrub with little caudex development. Almost always grafted onto big rootstocks. Large leaves are semi-evergreen. Flower: very large, 105 mm diameter x 48 mm petal width (4+ inches!). Petal color of newly-opened flowers varies with temperature. The most stunning variant has deep, velvety-red petals with no fading toward the throat, and a black margin. The margin may be narrow, or sometimes the outer halves of the petals are black, feathering into the red lower halves. In hot weather (>100F/38C) the flowers open pure red. In all cases flowers fade to lighter shades as they age. Blooms profusely in spring, often with a smaller flush in autumn. Notes: This is probably the best of the Taiwan Red strain, distinguished by large bright green leaves and large bright red flowers. The Chinese name is "hon bu zhan", which sounds something like "home run". The name means "better than red". Left: Note by my host Jung-Sheng Lin (Sinox Horticulture, Kaohsiung) about 'Home Run'. Back to Menu Above: 'Home Run' grafted onto a 3-foot tall 'Arabian Ruby' caudex. Above and below: A selection of the flower colors of 'Home Run', which vary greatly with temperature and age. Above: 'Red Everblomer' has sturdier branches than typical "obesum". Left: a 4-year-old cutting. Right: a much older plant on its own roots, about 6 feet tall. 'Red Everbloomer' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: Dimmitt selection, 1979. Plant form: Erect, well-branched shrub, with sturdier branches than is typical of the species. Modest caudex in original seedling; cuttings develop massive roots. Tends to be evergreen. Flower: Semi-star-shaped but with rounded petal tips, 66 mm diameter x 25 mm petal width. Outer halves of petals medium-red, fading to near white at throat. Throat white with no or a few faint nectar guides. Blooms year-round in tropical conditions. Notes : Selected from a batch of second generation seedlings from four plants purchased from Grigsby Cactus Gardens in the mid 1970s. This was an excellent red at the time when nearly all A. "obesum " had pink flowers. It's useful to compare it with recent cultivars to realize how far adenium breeding has progressed in the 40 years since 1980. This plant is also important as the parent of the first good red-flowered hybrid, 'Crimson Star ' . Back to Menu Left: Compare this humble beginning with today's red-flowered "obesum" selections! 'Red Henny 4n' (aka 'FC-1') Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: Richard J. “Jake” Henny, Florida USA, early 2000s Plant form: A vigorous, spreading shrub with notably thick stems and a modest caudex. Tends to be evergreen. Flower: round to nearly circular,very large, 90 mm diameter x 46 mm petal width. Petals have a wide red or deep pink margin (paler in hot weather), fading to near-white at throat. Throat yellow with no nectar guides. Blooms repeatedly year round, most heavily in spring. Notes: This is reportedly the first induced tetraploid, by treating seeds from an ordinary "obesum" with colchicine. (What would result from treating today's superior cultivars?) The original name was FC-1, because Henny verified its tetraploid status by measuring the quantity of DNA with flow cytometry. Back to Menu A 9-year-old cutting of 'Red Henny (4n)'. Tetraploid plants tend to have sturdier stems than diploids, but this clone still has rather weak stems that should be pruned every few years to maintain a more attractive form. This plant is getting pretty floppy. Left: The huge and well-shaped flower of 'Red Henny (4n)'. Flowers will be paler in weather above 100 F/38 C. Above: 'Royal Robe' grows well on its own roots, which develop a pseudocaudex in time. Plant is in a 14-inch pot. 'Royal Robe' Parentage: Adenium "obesum", ['Saenglasame' x ('Saenglasame' x 'Daeng Siam')] Creator: Dimmitt, 2001. Plant form: A large, vigorous, fairly upright shrub that develops massive roots. Nearly evergreen. Flower: Semi-star-shaped, 70 mm diameter x 30 mm petal width. Petals open deep red with narrow purple margin, aging to light red with lavender margin. Throat light yellow with no nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring and sporadically the rest of the year. Notes: There are numerous other beautiful bicolor obesums, including double flowers. Above: New (left) and older flowers of 'Royal Robe'. Back to Menu 'Snow Lotus' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " Creator: C.F. Chang, Taiwan, before 2008. Plant form: A vigorous large, spreading shrub with lush foliage and a small caudex. Almost always grown on grafts. Flower: Round, 80 mm diameter x 35 mm petal width. Petals pure white; throat yellow (sometimes greenish) with no nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring and sporadically the rest of the year. Notes : There are now many excellent white-flowered cultivars of A. "obesum" . Most, perhaps all, are descended from 'Grumbley White'. Back to Menu NEED PHOTO OF PLANT Above: The dazzling white flowers of 'Snow Lotus'. 'Tradewinds #20' Parentage: Adenium "obesum " ('Black Ruby' x 'Ruby 2') Creator: John Lucas, Tradewinds South Nursery, late 1990s. Plant form: A medium-sized, erect shrub with massive roots. Evergreen. Flower: Round, 84 mm diameter x 33 mm petal width. Petals deep crimson with a broad black border, fading only slightly toward throat. Throat white with very faint nectar guides. Prolific bloomer; season unrecorded. Notes: John Lucas produced a number of superb cultivars in the early days of adenium breeding. I hope this cv. is still in existence; it's a stunner. Left: the flowers of 'Tradewinds #20' look incandescent. Photo: John Lucas. Right: 'Tradewinds #20' has massive roots, especially for an "obesum". Photo: John Lucas. Back to Menu Citation Footnotes Rowley, Gordon, 1999. Pachypodium and Adenium. The Cactus File Handbook 5. David Neville, series editor. Nuffield Press, Oxford.

Cultivars of Adenium dhofarense Back to Gallery None? I don't know of any selected cultivars of this species that are important to adenium horticulture. If you know of any, please submit photos and a description using this form . Due credit will be given.

Adenium dhofarense Rzepecky Adenium dhofarense was described as a new species in 2015* ; it was previously considered part of A. "arabicum ". It occurs along the coast of Oman and extreme eastern Yemen, and is separated from A. "arabicum" by a 100 km gap where no adeniums occur. The plants are characterized by a broad, squat caudex up to a meter across.The stems are thin and usually floppy, and may root when they contact the ground. Some plants are erect. The leaves are the largest in the genus. The pink flowers usually appear in late spring before the plant leafs out. Flower size is usually small, but is variable. The plants grow very slowly. Adenium dhofarense in a 6-inch pot and is 3 years old from a tiny collected seedling. An Adenium "arabicum" of this age could be filling a 12-inch pot. Adenium dhofarense in a 6-inch pot at 6 years from a tiny collected seedling (different from one at left). This is a slow-growing species Typical flower of Adenium dhofarense . Adenium dhofarense in the wild Adenium dhofarense habitat on the cliffs above the Indian Ocean in Dhofar, Oman. Photo: Robert H. Webb. Adenium dhofarense near Mugsail, Oman (west of Salalah). The weak decumbent stems are characteristic of the species. Photos: Robert H. Webb. Bob Webb next to an Adenium dhofarense in Dhofar, Oman. Photo: Toni Yocum. Adenium dhofarense flowers in Dhofar, Oman. Photo: Robert H. Webb. Right: Toni Yocum next to an Adenium dhofarense in Dhofar, Oman. This plant has unusually erect stems. Photo: Robert H. Webb. Left and above: Adenium dhofarense in SW Yemen, showing its huge leaves. Photo: Boris Vrskovy (Puk). Back to Top Gallery of images by Gaetano Moschetti Plants that grow in extreme habitats take on fantastic forms! Alain Rzepecky and Adenium dhofarense . Photo: Alain Rzepecky. Marie Rzepecky and Adenium dhofarense . Photo: Alain Rzepecky. Muhammad al Shanfari (left) and Alain Rzepecky with Adenium dhofarense . Photo: Alain Rzepecky. Alain Rzepecky and Adenium dhofarense . Photo: Alain Rzepecky. The surrounding 4 photos show that Adenium dhofarense can grow tall and erect . Click on the thumbnails to see full-size images. Photos: Alain Rzepecky. Back to Top Footnotes Citation * Rzepecky, A. 2015. Adenium dhofarense. A long overlooked species from the central-southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Cact. Succ. J. (U.S.) 87(3):129–135.

Adenium " arabicum" x crispum hybrids As far as I know, Miles Anderson of Miles’ to Go Nursery is the only person who has successfully made this F 1 cross. He got only five viable plants, but they were fertile. They have the large caudexes and sturdy, erect branches of “arabicum ”; the small plant size, foliage, and flowers were heavily do minated by the crispum parent. Third generation plants that I grew from these plants still showed the striped petals, and mostly quilled petals. Some of these are larger, up to five feet (1.5 m) tall. In my opinion the main value of this line is contributing smaller size and striped flowers into the “arabicum” x “obesum” x crispum line . These hybrids are apparently tetraploid, because they cross only with other 4n adeniums. Above left: The star-shaped flowers of some clones have flat petals, but most will quill in a couple of days (right). Left: One of Miles Anderson's original F1 plants of Adenium "arabicum" x crispum. The caudexes are very large compared to plant size. Photo: Miles Anderson. Miles Anderson's F2 crosses of Adenium "arabicum" x crispum also have relatively huge caudexes, but the flowers are still quilled. The promise of these plants is to get cripsum 's patterned flowers and smaller plant size into the tetraploid arabicum-"obesum " line. Plant at left is 5 years old in a 14-inch pot. Footnotes

Hybrids containing Adenium crispum & swazicum Hybrids between these two species have been made by a few people. The expectations for primary (1st generation) hybrids: Adenium swazicum should contribute round flowers with solid, intense petal color, dark throats, and massive roots. Adenium crispum should contribute narrow leaves with white veins, and small, star-shaped flowers with nectar guides extending well onto the petals. A. crispum is heavily dominant in hybrids with A. "obesum ", so I expect it to do so in this hybrid group. These young plants show traits from both parents. A. swazicum shows in the nearly solid petal color and dark throat, and short anther tails. A. crispum influence is revealed in the nectar guides onto the petals, and the narrow leaves with white veins. I expect that mature plants will have massive caudex and roots. Mr. Vaghela named the cross Krishna as a group, not a cultivar name for one clone. Photos: Hiren Vaghela.

Superior Cultivars of Adenium crispum x "obesum" Back to Gallery See the hybrid page for the general characteristics of this hybrid group. Adenium crispum x "obesum" hybrids are renowned primarily by their boldly blotched and striped flowers. There are already thousands of named cultivars in this group, and adenium breeders are creating many more every year. For this reason, most of the cultivars that are more than a few years old are already obsolete and probably no longer on the market. Keeping up is impossible. This is generally true of adeniums, but especially so for crispum-obesum hybrids. The goal of this gallery is to present a selection of the vast variety of flowers, many of which arrived and vanished without ever being given names. 'City' 'Harry Potter' 'OMG!' 'Strawberry Sundae' 'Classical' 'Lily' 'Peppermint' 'Taiwan Sparks' 'Dexter' 'Little Red Berry' 'Red Laser' 'Twinkling Moonlight' 'Happy Princess' 'Neptune' 'Starfish 'Grenadine Splash' 'City' Parentage: Adenium crispum x "obesum " complex hybrid. Creator: Unknown, Taiwan before 2008 Plant form: Small, typical for the hybrid. Flower: Pale pink with bold red lines; like a flat-petaled crispum. Back to Menu 'Classical' Parentage: Adenium crispum x "obesum " complex hybrid. Creator: H.C. Chen, Taiwan before 2008 Plant form: Small, typical for cross. Flower: One of the boldest early hybrids, because the strong streaks are confined to the center of the petals, leaving a wide pale pink border. Back to Menu 'Dexter' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid: ( 'Garden Party' x 'Peppermint' ). Creator: Dimmitt 2011 Plant form: Compact and unusually upright for the cross. Slow growing. Flower: Round, 63 mm diameter, 24 mm petal width. Petals white with large red center blotch and numerous red splatters. Back to Menu Left: Adenium 'Dexter', 9-year-old seedling in a 12-inch pot. 'Grenadine Splash' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid Origin: Seedling from Taiwan, selected by Dimmitt, 2008 Plant form: Sturdy branching shrub to about 3 feet tall and wide in 10 years. Small caudex. Flower: Nearly circular, large, 74 mm diameter x 36 mm petal width. Petals light red, heavily blotched and streaked with dark red; throat white. Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: Tan Wei Lee, Taiwan, before 2008 Plant form: Medium-sized, spreading shrub; deciduous. Known only as grafted plants. Flower: Small, round, 40 mm diameter, 16 mm petal width. Petals light purple with dense overlay of red streaks except on margins. Throat yellow with prominent nectar guides. The flowers look much like those of crispum except that the petals are broad and flat, not quilled. Blooms profusely throughout warm months. Notes: This plant looks like A. crispum on steroids - several times larger than the species. It's also much less delicate than the species, at least when grafted. 'Happy Princess' Above left: Adenium 'Happy Princess', 2 -year-old graft in a 6-inch pot. Left: Same plant at 4 years old in a 12-inch pot. Back to Menu 'Harry Potter' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: C.F Chang, Taiwan, 2003 Plant form: Medium-sized, spreading shrub. Known only as grafted plants. Flower: Round, 78 mm diameter, 30 mm petal width. Petals white with wide central red stripe and some red streaks. Throat white with prominent nectar guides. Blooms well two or three times a year. Notes: This was the first crispum-"obesum " hybrid with fairly flat petals and bold markings. The nectar guides have become blotchy stripes. Back to Menu 'Lily' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: C.F. Chang, Taiwan, before 2008 Plant form: Large for this hybrid group; spreading shrub with weak stems. Nearly evergreen. Known only on grafts. Flower: Large, round, 90 mm diameter x 32 mm petal width. Petals wihte with central red blotch and a few spots. Throat yellow with no nectar guides. Flowers profusely two or three times a year. Notes: Another superb early hybrid by master hybridizer C.F. Chang. Adenium 'Lily', 6-year-old graft in a 16-inch pot. Adenium 'Lily', a new flower (above) and a week-old flower (right). Back to Menu Adenium 'Little Red Berry', 5-year-old graft, 4 feet tall in a 14-inch pot. 'Little Red Berry' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: Ashish Hansoti, Tropica Nursery, before 2008. Plant form: Large shrub for this hybrid group, vigorous, erect, tall and narrow form. Can attain 4 feet tall in 5 years. Flower: Small, star-shaped, 52 mm diameter x 12 mm petal width. Petals intense velvety-red with very narrow white edge and almost no fading toward throat. Throat red upper half, white lower with blackish nectar guides. Prolific bloomer. Semi-deciduous. Notes: Adenium 'Little Red Berry' bears highly saturated flowers. It also has a high flower count (more than 10 per inflorescence), right above. Back to Menu 'Neptune' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: Unknown, Taiwan before 2008 Plant form: Large and sturdy for this hybrid type; spreading shrub growing to 4 feet tall and wide in 10 years. Grown only on grafts. Evergreen. Flower: Round, 79 mm diameter x 34 mm petal width. Petals white with broad bright red margin and red central stripe and large white base. throat white with no nectar guides. Blooms almost year round. Notes: Another superb crispum-obesum hybrid, more robust than the great majority of cultivars. Above left: A 6-year-old grafted adenium 'Neptune' in a 14-inch pot. Above right: About 7 years old, grafted onto 'Arabian Ruby' rootstock in a 17-inch box. Back to Menu 'OMG!' Parentage: Complex Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " hybrid (MAD588 x 'Hansoti Pink') Creator: Dimmitt, 2013 Plant form: Small, erect shrub (usually taller than wide) with fairly sturdy stems. The original seedling is slow-growing and has almost no caudex. Grafted plants are vigorous; they need pruning to encourage branching. Evergreen and active except for a short winter rest. Flower: Circular, 63 mm diameter x 35 mm petal width. Petals white, almost completely obscured by a wide lavender margin and a large red central blotch that breaks into numerous purple streaks that extend nearly to the edges. Throat white with very prominent nectar guides. Blooms repeatedly almost year round except for midwinter. Notes: Back to Menu Above: 'OMG'. Above: The parents of 'OMG!'. Left: MAD588; right: 'Hansoti Pink'. 'OMG!' is a rare combination of the best of both parents plus a better shape than either. 'Peppermint' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: Unknown, Taiwan, before 2008 Plant form: Small compact spreading shrub. Known only as grafted plants. Flower: Round but with pointed tips, 60 mm diameter x 26 mm petal width. Petals white with large red center blotch and some red dots. Throat yellow with faint nectar guides. Blooms in two or three big flushes during the warm months. Notes: A beautiful little plant that grows to about two feet tall and wide in 10 years. Back to Menu Above: A 4-year-old grafted adenium 'Peppermint' in an 8-inch pot. Red Laser Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: Unknown; seedling purchased in Taiwan in 2008. Selected and named by Dimmitt. Plant form: Erect shrub, taller than wide, with noticeable caudex. Semi-evergreen but has distinct winter dormancy. Flower: Large, round, 82 mm diameter x 34 mm petal width. Petals white with narrow red center stripe and a few red dots. Throat yellow with no nectar guides. Blooms several times a year. Notes: This cv. unusually large for this hybrid, growing to 4 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide in 10 years. It's completely sterile; won't cross with any other adenium. Above: The original seedling of adenium 'Red Laser', 6 years old in a 12-inch pot. Right: The original seedling of adenium 'Red Laser', 12 years old in a 14-inch pot. It has a decent caudex. Back to Menu Starfish Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: R.J. Lieng, Taiwan, before 2008. Plant form: Medium-sized spreading shrub with fairly sturdy branches. Known only as grafted plants. Evergreen but dormant in winter. Flower: Star-shaped, 85 mm diameter x 21 mm petal width. Petals blush pink with narrow pink edges and a bold ragged-edged red midstripe. Throat red with no nectar guides. Blooms profusely at least twice a year. Notes: Back to Menu Above: Two-year-old grafted 'Starfish' in an 8-inch pot. 'Strawberry Sundae' (= MAD564 & MAD668) Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrids. MAD564 = A. "obesum" 'Daeng Siam' x 'Peppermint' MAD668 - A. 'Beauty Baby' x 'MAD487' Creator: Dimmitt 2009 & 2010 Plant form: Both clones fairly large spreading shrubs with fairly sturdy branches, small caudexes, and large roots. Tend to be evergreen. Flower: Both clones round, large, 80-85 mm diameter x 30 mm petal width. Petals white with wide bright red border and central red blotches and streaks. Throats yellow with very faint nectar guides. Bloom profusely two or three times a year. Notes: These two clones have unrelated parents but are nearly indistinguishable, so have been given the same cv. name. Back to Menu Above left: 'Strawberry Sundae' #564. Above left: 'Strawberry Sundae' #668. 'Taiwan Sparks' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: Seedling purchased in Taiwan in 2008; selected and named by Dimmitt. Plant form: A vigorous, medium-sized shrub with fairly sturdy branches. Known only as grafted plants. Evergreen. Flower: Round, 74 mm diameter x 35 mm petal width. Petals white at the base, but otherwise almost obscured by light red margins, a red blotch at the tips (varies from small to large with weather), and many red lines. Throat yellow with prominent nectar guides. Blooms massively at least twice a year. Notes: This seedling stood out among hundreds of thousands of plants at one of the nurseries that covered hectares of land. Above: 'Taiwan Sparks' in full bloom. Above: 'Taiwan Sparks' grafted onto a 2-foot tall 'Arabian Ruby' rootstock about 6 years earlier. Back to Menu Above three images: Flowers of 'Taiwan Sparks' at different ages and seasons. All beautiful! 'Twinkling Moonlight' Parentage: Ade nium crispum x "obe sum " complex hybrid. Creator: C.F. Chang, Taiwan, before 2008. Plant form: A small, slow-growing shrub with fairly sturdy branches. Known only as grafted plants. Evergreen. Flower: Small, round, 60 mm diameter x 27 mm petal width. Outer 3/4 of petals bright red, raggedly merging to white bases. Throat white with no nectar guides. Blooms massively at least twice a year. Notes: Back to Menu Above two images: 'Twinkling Moonlight' two-year-old graft (left); an older multiple graft onto a large rootstock in a Taiwan nursery. Above two images: 'Twinkling Moonlight' flowers, new (left), and week-old (right). A gallery of (mostly) vanished beauties

Hybrids containing Adenium crispum & multiflorum

Nomenclature Issues The nomenclature of adeniums has two interconnected errors, as detailed in Dimmitt and Edwards 2021 . Here is the short version: 1. The first adenium was described by Forsskal in 1775. The type specimen was a plant from Milhan, western Yemen. He thought that it was a succulent oleander and named it Nerium obesum . 2. In 1819 Roemer and Schultes decided that this plant belonged in its own genus and renamed it Adenium obesum (Forssk.) Roem. & Schult.. 3. In 1888 Balfour Jr. described a plant from Jabal Shamsan on the Aden Peninsula of Yemen as Adenium arabicum . 4. Since then most botanists have come to the opinion that all of the adeniums in Saudi Arabia and Yemen are the same species. The DNA analysis (Dimmitt and Edwards 2021 ) verified this opinion. The rules of nomenclature dictate that when two published species are determined to be the same, the earlier publication has priority. Therefore Adenium obesum is the valid name for all adeniums on the Arabian Peninsula (except for those in Oman and far southeastern Yemen that were segregated as A. dhofarense ). 5. But recognizing correct name for the Saudi Arabian and Yemeni adeniums would cause confusion because there are plants in East Africa named A. “obesum ”. They are different from the Arabian plants, so they need a new name. Here’s where it gets complicated: 6. Dimmitt and Edwards’ study found that A. “obesum”, A. somalense, and A. crispum in East Africa are genetically so similar (in the 5 loci sequenced) that their taxonomic level can’t be confidently determined. They could be three distinct species, or one highly variable species. Furthermore, there are no known specimens of adeniums from the Sahel region from Sudan to Senegal that are available to be studied, so we have no idea what species (singular or plural) that they belong to. Several other species have been published from this East Africa/Sahel region whose identities are also not settled. These include A. arboreum, coetanum, honghel, micranthum, speciosum, and tricholepis. 7. To settle these issues, much more field work and DNA analysis of the adeniums in East Africa and the Sahel are needed. If anyone can obtain leaves, seeds, or photos of these plants, especially from Ethiopia westward, they would have tremendous scientific and horticultural value. Footnotes

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