It is a hairy perennial herb growing from a taproot and woody caudex. It is an evergreen perennial growing from a thick taproot and caudex unit. Leaves and flowering stems are from a bulbous herbaceous caudex. The caudex is cylindrical, surrounded by the persistent petiole bases. Mature plants of many of the species form a small caudex or a tuberous root-stock. "Pachypodium densiflorum" grows from a sizeable, fleshy basal caudex. "Jatropha cathartica" is a perennial herb that grows from an enlarged, tuberlike woody root (caudex). This plant is a perennial herb producing several erect stems from its caudex. With age it develops a woody caudex at its base. It forms a large caudex from which deciduous vines emerge. It can grow to in height, with pachycaul stems and a stout, swollen basal caudex. The stem usually grows erect from a caudex. The plant may reproduce by seed or vegetatively by sprouting new shoots from its caudex. Shoots growing from the caudex are regularly branched and spiny at the youngest parts. This is a perennial herb growing a slender but sturdy stem from an underground caudex.