This short, rotund and smooth caudex roughing it among bare rocks is also Pachypodium lealii. Often tall but always bulging to some extent, the dominant brown to grey base is surprisingly balanced by thorny stems and seasonal flowers.

Thorny branches for headgear, not snakes like Medusa, are ameliorated by white flowers. Defiance may stand with serenity (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Frandsen, 2017; Mannheimer and Curtis, (Eds.), 2009; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).