I’ve grown many varieties of Pachypodium from seed over the years, but until now I’ve never grown Pachypodium sofiense. I bought 5 seeds at the Toronto Cactus and Succulent Show in August and, of the 4 that germinated, they’re already huge! Well, huge in comparison to the size and growth rate of other Pachypodium seedlings in my experience. They’re a bit over a month old at this point.
P. sofiense is sometimes classified as a subspecies of Pachypodium rutenbergianum but I’ve also read that it is now considered it’s own species. Either way, it has longer and wider leaves, fewer spines and thicker fruit than P. rutenbergianum. It also has scented white flowers (photo of flowering specimen.)
From two areas in Madagascar, P. sofiense is fairly rare in the wild and classified as a “species of concern.” It gets it’s name from the Sofia River, which flows through part of the habitat where it can be found.
The Green Windowsill 