EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Ceci n'est pas un Elephant's Foot

Elephant's Foot (Adenium obesum), Family Apocynaceae
Lake Baringo, Rift Valley, Kenya

Explanation:  With a tip of the ol' chappeau to Magritte, this week we encounter another native denizen of the Rift Valley of southern Kenya:  an elephant's foot. 

Actually, it's a thick-bodied shrub, also called desert rose for its lovely blooms.  

In local Swahili it is called madiga; in the Maasai language it is oleteti; and in Turkana it is called egales.  

By any name, though, it is one tough plant that sustains hot dry conditions in rocky sites and the dry bushland of east Africa.  

It grows as a shrub or low tree, up to about 6 m (18 ft) in height.  Its thick fleshy leaves are adapted to seasonal conditions of low rainfall and occur mostly in clusters at the tips of the branches.  

Elephant's foot is a useful plant, and not just for its esthetics as an ornamental.  Its roots and seeds contain poison used for fishing or to tip arrows for hunting game.  Applying the bark is said to help remove lice and ticks on livestock.  One study even reported that the sap is used as "birdlime," which is any sticky substance smeared on small branches to capture small birds ... !
 

 

The bark of elephant's foot is typically grayish and thick.  

The dense trunk and thick bark may be an adaptation to surviving the occasional bush fire. 

The species name "obesum" certainly describes the appearance of this stout plant!

 

Flowers of elephant's foot vary from deep rose or pink to white in color.

They give way to capsule fruits that eventually split to release their small elongated seeds.

The strange growth form of elephant's foot lends to
the mystique of the east African bush.

 

Information:
     Hoffmann, J.J., and J.R. Cole.  1977.  Phytochemical investigation of Adenium obesum forskal (Apocynaceae): isolation and identification of cytotoxic agents.  Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 66(9):1336-1338.
     Omino, E.A., and J.O. Kokwaro.  1993.  Ethnobotany of Apocynaceae species in Kenya.  Journal of Ethnopharmacology 40(3):167-180.
     van Wyk, B., and P. van Wyk. 1997. Field guide to trees of southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa. 536 pp.