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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' 'St. Elmo's Fire' 'Nearly Perfect' 'Tetra Splash #927' 'Radiant Dawn' 'Starbright' '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. Back to Menu 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. Back to Menu '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. Back to Menu 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'. Back to Menu '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. Back to Menu '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. Back to Menu

Adenium Sculptural Elegance, Floral Extravagance Adenium: Sculptural Elegance, Floral Extravagance, covers the cultivation and care of Adeniums, as well as their unique and attractive characteristics.The book showcases the beauty and ornamental value of Adeniums, and provides detailed information for both hobbyists and professional growers. The book is out of print, but you can download a 45 megabyte PDF; use the button below. Meet the Authors Corrections and Clarificatons Historic Letters Download PDF of Book Meet the Authors Authors from left to right: Dave Palzkill, Gene Joseph and Mark Dimmitt Mark A. Dimmitt has a Ph.D. in biology (zoology-herpetology) from the University of California at Riverside. He is retired from a 40-year career as a botanist/ecologist, mostly at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. His second career is collecting and hybridizing plants, first Trichocereus (cacti) and Tillandsia (bromeliads). Since the late 1970s his main focus has been on breeding Adenium s. David A. Palzkill has a Ph.D. in Horticulture and Plant Pathology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he studied calcium-related problems of vegetable crops. Following fourteen years on the faculty of the University of Arizona, he consulted on alternative crops for dry regions and grew adeniums commercially for about 20 years. Gene E. Joseph studied Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He was plant propagator at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum where he focused his interest in desert flora. He has run Plants for the Southwest, a desert plant nursery in Tucson, since 1986 Corrections & Clarifications Page 13, Figure 9: Photo was taken near Benoue National Park in northern Cameroon, not in Mauritania as stated in the book. Page 45, under Flowers header: The first sentence should read "The small flowers (Figure 105) are produced abundantly for about two months during late winter and early spring,... " Page 47, Figure 108: Pho to: Boris Vrskovy (Puk, with an accent on the y), not P. Mukundan. Page 65, Figure 44: The flower is 'Yolk Fragrance', purchased in Taiwan and photographed by Mark Dimmitt. Here is a picture of 'Arctic Snow', by David Clulow. Page 70, Figures 60 and 61: Photos are by David Clulow, not Ashish Hansoti as stated. Page 78, Figure 91: It's 'Harry Potter'; photo: Kenneth Wall. Page 96, Origin of 'Singapore': I rediscovered a lost note from Albert Chan and a letter from Frank Horwood dated 1980. Professor Holttum told Horwood that Adenium 'Singapore' was introduced to horticulture in Singapore in 1933, 50 years earlier than I had thought. (Richard Eric Holttum was Director of the Singapore Botanical Garden from 1926 to 1949, and later was on the staff of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.) Chan's and Horwood's letters are archived here . Page 106, third paragraph: In fact, A. swazicum and A. oleifolium do experience freezing temperatures. Adenium oleifolium remains a short shrub partly because it is periodically frozen to the ground. Page 127, Figure 38: Photo: P. Mukundan, not Nathan Wong. Page 134: The Adenium "arabicum" at the bottom of the page is by Godong Ijo Nursery, not David Clulow. Clarifications Page 32: As stated, A. "arabicum" does indeed tend to grow short and squat at low, dry elevations and high, cold ones, and is often arborescent in wetter habitats. However, growth form is not only environmentally controlled; there is also a strong genetic influence. In cultivation some seedlings become shrubs with squat caudexes, while others grown in the same conditions become trees with tall, conical trunks. Page 47: The range of the unnamed Omani Adenium (A. dhofarense as of 2015) extends into eastern Yemen, near Hvai (Boris Vrskovy pers. comm.). The plants in Figures 108 and 109 are in fact from this location in Yemen, not in Oman as the caption states. The photos are also by Boris. Page 54: An adenium registry should go online soon. Stay tuned. (It never happened as of 2023) Species and Hybrid chapters . Flower shapes. Click here for an image gallery of flower shapes . Hybrid Chapter, page 70: After some discussion with Thai growers, it is apparent that most of their "arabicum" cultivars are in fact not cultivars. That is, their named plants such as 'Golden Crown', 'Petch Ban Na', Ra Chi Nee Pan Dok', etc. will not breed true either from seed or asexual means. This is because the names refer to particular growth forms achieved by careful pruning and training of the plants from a very small size. It is still unclear whether there is a formal nomenclatural term for this kind of plant. But they should not be called cultivars, and their names should not be enclosed in single quotes. Page 129, Table 2: When considering whether to water an adenium, it is important to know whether the plant is active or dormant. Click here for a gallery illustrating the terms dormant, active, and growing . Historic Letters