Adenium oleifolium, the smallest of the desert roses

With its olive-like leaves and oleander-like flowers, Adenium oleifolium could be mistaken for a Mediterranean plant. Not so! This variety of desert rose comes to us from southern Africa and belongs to the Apocynaceae family.

Adenium oleifolium is a semi-succulent shrub with an upright, bushy habit. Smaller than adenium boehmianum or adenium obesum, this desert rose measures barely 60 centimetres high at maturity.

The plant has a buried caudex from which stringy or rigid semi-aerial stems grow. The trunk branches out and bears branches with green or brown bark at the top.

Simple leaves grow in a spiral at the end of the branches. Some are sessile, while others are short-stalked. Linear and narrow, they measure up to ten centimetres long and only 1.5 wide. The green-gray leaf blades are covered with a fine down. Adenium oleifolium is a deciduous plant. In early winter, the leaves fall to limit evaporation.

From the very first days of spring, flowers bloom in cymes. Their five petals are fused together to form a central tube. Their open lobes give the flower a star shape.

Petal color varies according to hybrid and cultivar. Commercial specimens often have pale pink or red flowers. In the wild, they can be violet, magenta or two-tone. But it doesn't matter which variety: the throat of the flower is always darker in color than the petals, and striped with yellow.

Adenium oleifolium produces fruits composed of two fused follicles. They bear bristles at their tips, which help disperse the seeds.

Adenium oleifolium is toxic. The desert rose contains alkaloids, a substance that is very dangerous to animals if ingested, and irritating to the touch. Keep your plant away from pets and wear gloves when pruning.