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'Carol Ann' (MAD978)
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum", self-set seed from 'Yemeni Giant'
Creator: Mark Dimmitt selection, sown 2009.
Plant form: A spreading shrub with a massive squat caudex. Mother plant at left is 3 feet tall x 4 feet wide at 13 years old. It's about half the size of its seed parent, but larger than dwarf "arabicum" clones. Potentially evergreen; does not require a dry winter rest.
Flower: Round to semi-star shaped, 73 mm in diameter x 31 mm petal width, wide dark pink to almost red petal edge, fading to near white at throat. Yellow throat with prominent nectar guides. The plant tends to flower repeatedly throughout the year if grown warm.
Notes: The most prominent trait is its indeterminate inflorescences. The flower count can well surpass 50, so a single inflorescence can be in bloom for two months or more. Named in memory of John Bliznak's mother.
Flower of Adenium "arabicum" 'Carol Ann'.
During the summer peak bloom, 'Carol Ann' inflorescences can produce more than 50 flowers over a period of two to three months.
Above: An unnamed, fairly typical clone of the Fat Guys strain: a compact shrub with big caudex and small pink flowers. (This caudex is smaller than average.) Most clones bloom only in spring. Photo: Gene Joseph.
Fat Guys strain
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum" 'Ram Gandhi' x 'Hansoti Dwarf'
Creator: Mark Dimmitt cross 2009.
Plant form: Medium-sized, spreading shrubs with relatively large squat caudexes. Their size is closer to the dwarf pollen parent than the large seed parent. All clones seem not to require a dry winter rest.
Flowers: Almost all clones have pink petals that fade to near white at throat. A few have petals that are red on the outer half, fading to dark pink at the throats. Throats and nectar guides variable. Most bloom only in spring. See individual cv. descriptions for flower sizes.
Notes: This is not a single cultivar, but a strain (grex) consisting of all the offspring from these two parents. Some clones within this group have been given cv. names, e.g., 'Fat Guy MAD670'. Their popularity stems from their consistently compact size with fat caudexes and good vigor. A few are also good bloomers.
Left: Plant and flower of 'Fat Guy MAD670'. The plant is about 2 x 2 feet at 10 years old.
Flower: Semi-star, 58 mm diameter x 25 mm petal width; Outer half of petals medium red, fading to pink at throat. (Red "arabicum" flowers are quite rare.) Throat yellowish with few nectar guides. Unlike most Fat Guys, this clone flowers profusely in spring and sporadically all year.
Right: Plant, flower, and caudex of 'Fat Guy MAD671'. The plant is about 3 x 2 feet at 10 years old. The caudex in the closeup is 12 years old; the ruler is 12 inches/30 cm.
Flower: Round, 53 mm diameter x 21 mm petal width; Outer half of petals medium red, fading to pink at throat. (Red "arabicum" flowers are quite rare.) Throat yellowish with prominent nectar guides. Unlike most Fat Guys, this clone flowers profusely in spring and sporadically all year.
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum", wild collection.
Origin: The original plant has been grown in India since at least the 1930s. Probably collected on the Aden Peninsula of Yemen (Dimmitt & Edwards 2021).
Plant form: A small spreading shrub with a relatively massive caudex. Deciduous; seems to require a dry winter rest. Slow growing.
Flower: Round; 65 mm diameter x 26 mm petal width, dark pink to light red depending on temperature(?), fading to pink at throat. Throat yellowish with light red nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring while leafless. Self fertile; most seedlings strongly resemble the parent.
Notes: Named for the original plant's present owner, Ashish Hansoti. This is one parent of the Fat Guys strain, a uniform grex of dwarf plants with big caudexes. Jabal Shamsan on the Aden Peninsula is the type locality for A. "arabicum"
'Hansoti Dwarf' (MAD179)
Adenium "arabicum" 'Hansoti Dwarf', 15 year old cutting in 18-inch bonsai pot.
Flowers of Adenium "arabicum" 'Hansoti Dwarf'. Flowers are darker in cooler weather & when plant is dry.
'Ram Gandhi' (MAD262)
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum"
Origin: A Dimmitt selection of the most vigorous plant from a batch of seeds obtained from Dr. Ram Gandhi in 1999.
Plant form: A very large spreading shrub with a squat caudex and several greatly swollen main branches. Semi deciduous in winter.
Flower: Semi-star; 78 mm diameter x 25 mm petal width, petals dark pink outer half, fading to near-white at throat. Throat yellow with prominent red nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring and usually has a few flowers year round. Self fertile; most seedlings grow vigorously into large plants.
Notes: This is one parent of the Fat Guys strain, a uniform grex of dwarf plants with big caudexes.
Above: Flower of Adenium "arabicum" 'Ram Gandhi'.
Right: Adenium "arabicum" 'Ram Gandhi at 20 years.The ruler is 12 inches/30 cm.
Adenium "arabicum" 'Ram Gandhi', 20 year old seedling in 42 inch pot. The peak spring bloom last about two months. Notice the cauliflory, which is fairly common in A. "arabicum".
Above: Adenium "arabicum" 'Ram Gandhi', 9 years old in an 18 inch inch pot. Below: Same plant at 24 years old in a 42-inch pot.
'Shada Tree' (MAD973)
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum".
Origin: A typical example of the arborescent form of the species. Second generation seed from Jabal Shada, Saudi Arabia; produced by C&J Nursery. The original seed was collected by Sheila Collenette, the renowned 20th century plant explorer.
Plant form: A tree to at least 10 feet tall with a conical trunk/caudex to at least 4 feet tall.
Flower: Small and star-shaped, 60 mm diameter; petal width 25 mm. Petals light pink with narrow dark pink edge. Throat pale white to yellowish with prominent red nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring and usually has a few flowers year round.
Notes:
Flower of 'Shada Tree #973'.
Adenium "arabicum" 'Shada Tree #973'. The plant shown above is 9 feet tall in an 18-inch pot at 14 years from seed (left) and 15 years. Photo above right: Peter L. Kresan.
Left: Closeup of the trunk/caudex of 'Shada Tree #973' at 14 years old. The ruler is 12 inches/30 cm.
Above two images: Adenium "arabicum" 'Sheila Collenette' planted in the ground in a glass greenhouse with no climate controls. Left: the plant at 9 years old; right: 24 years old. The scars on the older plant are frost damage from 11 degrees F (-12 C) that occurred 8 years earlier. This species is quite hardy if the soil is dry. It's surrounded by Stapelia gigantea.
'Sheila Collenette'
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum".
Origin: Seed from Jabal Shada, Saudi Arabia. Collected by Sheila Collenette, the renowned 20th century plant explorer.
Plant form: A spreading shrub to 6 feet tall and 8 feet wide with a massive caudex and swollen main branches.
Flower: Small and star-shaped, 45 mm diameter; petal width 12 mm. Petals light pink with narrow dark pink edge. Throat pale white to yellowish with prominent red nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring.
Notes: Jabal Shada is a large mountain that has both shrubby and arborescent adeniums, as well as frost-pruned dwarfs at high elevation.
Soodah Dwarf strain
Three images above and left: Adenium "arabicum" 'Soodah Dwarf MAD483'. Flowers star-shaped, 50 mm diameter x 13 mm petal width; yellow throat with no nectar guides. High flower count (indeterminate, 50+ per inflorescence). Blooms repeatedly throughout the year, including winter if kept warm. Tends to be evergreen. Plant at upper left is 7 years old; left is15 years.. Ruler is 12 inches/30 cm.
Parentage: A. "arabicum"
Origin: Descendants of seeds from a dwarf plant on Jabal Soodah, Raidah Escarpment near Abha, Saudi Arabia, near the headwaters of Wadi Muraba. Seeds were collected from a single plant by Tom McCoy. This strain consists of the offspring from 4 plants selected from 14 original plants grown from wild seeds.
Plant form: Consistently small, spreading, profusely branching shrubs with large, squat caudexes. Most clones are evergreen.
Flowers: Small and pink; petals fade to near white at throat. Some clones have high flower counts (at least 10 per inflorescence). Throats yellow; no nectar guides. They bloom profusely in spring, and sporadically throughout the warm months. See individual cv. descriptions for flower details.
Notes: This is not a single cultivar, but a strain (grex) consisting of all the offspring from 4 selected seedlings. Interestingly, there were "normal" sized plants on the same hill, but the dozens of seedlings from the dwarf plant grown by various people were all dwarf. A few clones have been given cv. names.
Above 3 images: Adenium "arabicum" 'Soodah Dwarf MAD484'. Flowers star-shaped, 42 mm diameter x 11 mm petal width; yellow throat with no nectar guides. High flower count (15-20 per inflorescence). Blooms repeatedly throughout the year, including winter if kept warm. Tends to be evergreen. Plant at left is 4 years old in an 8 inch pot.
Above: Adenium "arabicum" 'Soodah Dwarf MAD530'. Flowers semi-star-shaped, 48 mm diameter x 16 mm petal width; yellow throat with no nectar guides. High flower count (about 10 per inflorescence). Blooms repeatedly throughout the year, including winter if kept warm. Tends to be evergreen. Plant at left is 8 years old; right is14 years. Ruler is 12 inches/30 cm.
Adenium "arabicum" 'Yemeni Giant', the original seedling at 10 years old, six feet high in a 42" pot.
Flowers of 'Yemeni Giant'
'Yemeni Giant' [MAD186]
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum"
Origin: One of numerous seedlings grown by Chuck Hanson ca. 1998; selected and named by Dimmitt. The seeds were from Frank Horwood's large-flowered clone collected in Yemen.
Plant form: A vigorous, freely branching shrub with a massive caudex and lower branches. Larger plants are almost evergreen.
Flower: Round, 65 mm diameter x 28 mm petal width; petals white to pale pink with an indistinct light pink border. Throat yellow with prominent red nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring, with a few flowers throughout the rest of the year.
Notes:
Adenium "arabicum" 'Yemeni Giant', a six year old cutting in a 12" pot. It's a myth that adenium cuttings don't form caudexes. They will IF the mother plant is caudiciform.
Flowers of 'Yemeni Giant'
'MAD 953'
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum", selfing of 'Hansoti Dwarf'.
Creator: Dimmitt, 2010.
Plant form: This unnamed clone is a compact shrub, taller than wide, with a short-conical caudex. Plant shown is about 2 feet tall x 1.5 feet wide at 11 years old. Performs better with a dry winter rest.
Flower: Round, 60 mm diameter x 23 mm petal width. Petals bright red with little fading toward throat. Throat yellow with faint nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring.
Notes: Almost all A. "arabicum" have pink flowers. 'Hansoti Dwarf' has darker pink to light red flowers. I have obtained about a half-dozen good reds out of a few hundred seedlings grown. The color is not stable; it tends to be more pink in hot weather (>100 F/38 C).
'MAD965'
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum", 'Hansoti Dwarf' x 'Petch Ban Na'.
Creator: Dimmitt, 2010.
Plant form: This unnamed clone is a compact erect shrub, taller than wide, with a large squat caudex. Plant shown is about 2 feet tall x 1.5 feet wide at 10 years old. Performs better with a dry winter rest.
Flower: Round to almost circular, 65 mm diameter x 34 mm petal width. Petals pale pink with a narrow bright pink edge. Throat yellowish with no nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring.
Notes:
'MAD988'
Parentage: A. "arabicum", second generation selfing of 'Hansoti Dwarf'.
Creator: Dimmitt, 2009.
Plant form: A compact, many-branched shrub with a relatively huge globular caudex. Plant shown is 12 years from seed, about 1.5 feet tall and wide in a 14-inch pot.
Flower: Round, 46 mm diameter x 21 mm petal width. Petals medium red, fading slightly near base; throat white with prominent nectar guides. Flowers massively in spring.
Notes: This clone closely resembles the "Thai socos" of Asia, but it is a descendant of an old wild-collected plant.
'MAD1004'
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum", 'Hansoti Dwarf' x self.
Creator: Dimmitt, 2013.
Plant form: This unnamed clone is a compact erect shrub, taller than wide, with a large short-conical caudex. Plant shown is about 2 feet tall x 1.5 feet wide at 6 years old. Performs better with a dry winter rest.
Flower: Round, 60 mm diameter x 28 mm petal width. Petals deep red with with almost no fading toward throat. Throat white with faing nectar guides. Blooms in spring.
Notes: Almost all A. "arabicum" have pink flowers. 'Hansoti Dwarf' has darker pink to light red flowers. I have obtained about a half-dozen good reds out of a few hundred seedlings grown. The color is not stable; it tends to be more pink in hot weather (>100 F/38 C).
'MAD1083'
Parentage: Adenium "arabicum", 'Hansoti Dwarf' x 'Petch Ban Na'.
Creator: Dimmitt, 2010.
Plant form: This unnamed clone is a compact erect shrub with a large short-conical caudex. Plant shown is about 2 feet tall and wide at 11 years old. Performs better with a dry winter rest.
Flower: Round, 60 mm diameter x 27 mm petal width. Petals medium pink edge, fading to near-white inner half. Throat yellow with prominent red nectar guides. Blooms profusely in spring.
Notes:
