A small succulent with densely branched, pale grayish green, upright, leafless, cacti-like but unarmed shoots. It produces spectacular inflorescences with bright yellow, star-shaped flowers. Botanically it has been placed in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae) and is thus related to Pachypodium or Plumeria.
Desmidorchis flava is still better known as Caralluma flava and native to the mountains of the southern Arabian Peninsula, where it grows in rocky deserts. In cultivation it is best suited to dry tropical and warm temperate climates.
