History of The Genus
The early history of the genus Pachypodium demonstrates the typical process of a taxon becoming a new genus. Initially debate occurred over if Pachypodium belonged to the genus Echites or if it constituted a separate genus. Pachypodium were first published as a unique genus, separate from Echites, by Leandley in 1830.
Then the debate centered on the nomenclature of species uniquely found in continental Southern Africa. That changed when, in 1892, Baker contributed the first species accepted into the genus from Madagascar. The degree of speciation then turned to Madagascar, where the count of species far exceeds those on the mainland.
In 1907, Costantin and Bois constructed the first monograph, of Pachypodium, in which they enumerated 17 species, where ten were from Madagascar and seven were from continental southern Africa.
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