Native plants of madagascar?

Sean1978

New Member
Is there a list of plants commonly available that are native to Madagascar? I think it would be cool to have native environment plants in your Chaim's enclosure.

My girlfriend picked up a "Madagascar Dragon Tree" from Lowe's in Charlotte this weekend.

I wonder what sort of trees are prevalent in the Panther's territory.
 
Bless you for asking this question! I spent over 2 hours last night looking for the plants that are native to Mount Meru. the information is not easily come by.You can find a zillion sites showing tours, safaris etc of Tanzania, and they all mention the animals but not the plants !. So far I have managed to find Acacia ( I'd worry myself silly over those lethal spikes)St Johns Wort ( quite common here in the UK- UNTILL you really need one that is),Hypericum lanceolatim- no common name, something by the delightful name of Yellow Fever Tree and a fireball lily. I am hoping to create a very natural looking enviroment for some young Merus arriving shortly but like yourself am having a hard time arriving at what exactly to put in their enclosure.Should I find out anything else I will share the info with you.
Love tawny
 
I dont know much about trees and such, but I grow many orchid species native to Madagascar. Aerangis and Angraecums (some of the smaller ones) would do well in a vivarium, and if you have enough headroom and light, you could give one of the larger Angraecums a go! Angraecum sesquipedale would be a great choice. Go to www.orchidmall.com to see a list of orchid vendors.
 
Pretty cool, but I don't see much foliage on most of those. Probably wouldn't be good plants for a vivarium.

They focus on mainly succulents, but they do have and can get other shrubs and vines. Keep in mind most, if not all of the plants they sell are just stumps - baby plants. So there's not going to be any real foliage on them.

It's going to be difficult to get good-sized rare plants. We pretty much have to settle for ficus, sheffelera, or anything we can get at lowes. If we want something more exotic, we're stuck with seeds or seedlings for the most part.
 
Thankyou for the info,,We dont seem to get too much in the Exotic range here in the UK. I use a lot of passion flowers in my set ups- not exactly a Madagascan plant but it looks good and grows well.Orchids are quite expensive here and as I tend to use Locusts as my main food item, I think I'd cry if I paid the earth for a beautifull plant only to see it become a locust feast! So its back to my usual mix of real and fake foilage for now.
Love Tawny
 
Passion flower

Just want to point out, this is a toxic plant. The leaves of the passion flower are poisonous to insects but the caterpillars of some butterflies have become resistant and use it to become poisonous themselves to deter predation by insect eaters.
Leaves a really bad taste in your mouth
 
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The common passiflora is toxic?Are we talking about the same species I ask as the fruits are used to make wine and i also use it as a feeder for my locusts and havent had a fatality in either feeder insects or Chams during the past 4 years of use.I know there are several species of passiflora available , the one I use is commonly used here for jams, preserves and wine.I have chewed on the leaves and eat the fruits straight from the vines in my garden. I have not seen it being recorded as toxic anywhere to be honest. The one I refer to produces small tangerine and yellow type fruits. I will try to find a site that shows which species are safe for consumption, as I say the one I refer too is used in herbal medicines, tinctures etc.If I find out anything else I wil let you know.
Love Tawny
 
The common passiflora is toxic?Are we talking about the same species
I think I jumped the gun, on this topic. I've had both fruiting and non, growing in my backyard. And now that you mention it, the butterflies stayed away for the fruit bearing specimen. And people do eat/ cook the fruit. I heard a story about somebody's Nosy Be eating a caterpillar off the poisonous variety, and being sickened. I later had chance to see this animal in person. A great looking true blue, but suffered paralysis from the poisoning. A quick trip to the vet by the keeper, after realizing what had took place, helped this animal survive. From my observation, animal looked like he spent most, if not all of his time on the cage bottom now.
So whenever I see the words passion flower, This story and the Nose Be's image pop into my head.
I apologize for any undue stress or alarm I my have caused.
 
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They focus on mainly succulents, but they do have and can get other shrubs and vines. Keep in mind most, if not all of the plants they sell are just stumps - baby plants. So there's not going to be any real foliage on them.

It's going to be difficult to get good-sized rare plants. We pretty much have to settle for ficus, sheffelera, or anything we can get at lowes. If we want something more exotic, we're stuck with seeds or seedlings for the most part.

I understand, Eric, I was just a bit underwhelmed. I was like "Cool! indiginous plants! Then I clicked on it and it was all $75 stumps."
 
I know - it's crazy. But those stumps probably look a lot better when they grow. Have you ever ordered trees online? Most of the time you get sticks. Just sticks.

What I want to get is the vines that are native to the usambara mtns. Apparantly, deremensis are found on a lot of vines and shrubs. But who the heck carries African vines?
 
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