Crossing “arabicum” x “obesum” plants with “arabicum” x “crispum” plants creates a trifecta, my ideal adenium: medium-sized plants (three to five feet [90-150 cm] tall, from the crispum parentage) with comparatively large caudexes (from "arabicum" and crispum), sturdy stems (from "arabicum"), and large flowers (three-plus inches [76+ mm] from "obesum") that often have splashed petals (from crispum). The plants are fast-growing and quite cool-tolerant; they don’t get root rot even if watered in winter. Many are evergreen and flower almost year round. Seedlings flower in a year or two. Cuttings root easily and produce caudexes in a few years. (Cuttings are more economical than grafting as is required of most “obesum” x crispum hybrids because of the former species' usually poor caudex development and the latter’s slow growth.) What more could a plant breeder ask for?

This breeding line is my main focus now, and it appears that no other hybridizers are working with any "arabicum" interspecific hybrids. While these plants can still grow too large for the mass commercial market, their size can be limited by hard culture. See the superior hybrids page for more images and descriptions.