Flowers of Bali

Balinese name: jepun jepang
Indonesian name: not known
Latin name: Adenium coetenium
Family name: Apocynaceae

This Balinese Adenium is one of the different trees the Balinese call jepun. The two others are jepun bali and jepun jawa. Although the Adenium belongs to the same botanical family as the true frangipani, Plumeria, it is of an entirely different genus. In common with many members of the family Apocynaceae, the Adenium (and the frangipani) exude a poisonous white latex when the branches are broken or damaged.

Description

The general shape of this Balinese Adenium small tree is somewhat reminiscent of the frangipani, but unlike the Plumeria, the red or deep pink flowers has no odor. One must understand, however, that all Adeniums grown from seed are “hybrids” in that the plant rarely self pollinates and that each seedling is distinct in its own right. I have known one grower to claim he had a collection of a thousand hybrids – he counted each plant in his collection as a separate hybrid and considered minute differences between the leaves, flowers and growth habits as significant. Luckily he did not proceed to name the plants!

Flowers

Trumpet-shaped and generally of some shade of crimson, with edges somewhat darker than the center in some plants. One variety has pale pink flowers with streaks of white. The five petals are attached to a cup about 2.5 cm long and flare from 1 to 2 cm in diameter. The petals, which form an overlapping ring at the wide end, are almost diamond-shaped. The five stamens are fuzzy, long filaments that extend to the lip of the cup.

Leaves

Club-shaped, about 12 by 4 cm, flaring out from a narrow base. The midrib is prominent. Leaves occur in bunches at the ends of rather fat branches.

Cultivation and uses

Adenium obesum is grown as a houseplant in temperate regions. Numerous hybrids have been developed. Adeniums are appreciated for their colorful flowers, but also for their unusual, thick caudices. They can be grown for many years in a pot and are commonly used for bonsai.

Because seed-grown plants are not genetically identical to the mother plant, desirable varieties are commonly propagated by grafting. Genetically identical plants can also be propagated by cutting. However, cutting-grown plants do not tend to develop a desirable thick caudex as quickly as seed-grown plants.

The sap of Adenium boehmianum, A. multiflorum, and A. obesum contains toxic cardiac glycosides and is used as arrow poison throughout Africa for hunting large game.