Didierea madagascariensis

Didierea madagascariensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Didiereaceae
Genus: Didierea
Species:
D. madagascariensis
Binomial name
Didierea madagascariensis
Baill. (1880)
Synonyms

Didierea mirabilis Baill.; Alluaudiopsis marnieriana Rauh

Didierea madagascariensis, commonly known as the octopus tree, is a species of Didiereaceae endemic to the spiny thickets of southwestern Madagascar. It was first described scientifically by the French botanist Henri Ernest Baillon in 1880 and is the type species of the genus Didierea.

It is known in Malagasy as sohongy, sony and soribarika. Sohongy and sony come from the Tanosy dialect word songo meaning "lock of hair" or a rooster's crest or comb possibly referring to its branches that sprawl upwards.