Pachycaul

Pachycaul [ Botany ]	Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

A thick-stemmed tree, with particularly swollen, stout and ± succulent trunk and branches.

Pachycaul (From greek Pachy=Large and Latin Cauli = Trunk)

Pachycauls are trees, with particularly thick-stemmed trunks, often bottle-shaped, unbranched or sparingly branched and ± succulent, with a massive parenchymatous pith and cortex and relatively little secondary wood.
The pachycaul may be considered a not `twiggy' intermediate growing form between a standard tree and a true caudicifom.

In general succulents are plants that store water in their plant tissue, they may be loosely grouped as:

Stem succulents: (most of which are cacti) plants the have swollen, moisture-retaining stems.
(e.g. Pachypodium namaquanum)
Leaf succulents: Plants that have foliage but often lack a stem, whereas cacti and other stem succulents have a swollen stem but mostly lack leaves. (e.g. Echeveria laui or many vygies, i.e. members of the family Mesembryanthemaceae – commonly referred to as mesembs)
Root succulents: Plants the have swollen, moisture-retaining roots. (e.g. Pterocactus tuberosus)
Caudiciforms & pachicauls: Plants the have swollen, moisture-retaining trunks. . (e.g. Uncarina grandidieri, Adansonia digitata)
Bulbous: Plants that have swollen, moisture-retaining bulbs. (e.g. Ornitogalum caudatum)

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