Adenium

While not strictly Bonsai, these are sometimes grown as Bonsai and as shaped trees resembling animals and people. Whilst in Indonesia I saw a number of these interestingly shaped plants on display in an exhibition in Bali. Some of these shaped trees can be seen here.

The Adenium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, containing a single species, Adenium obesum, also known as Sabi Star, Kudu or Desert-rose, and is native to tropical and subtropical eastern and southern Africa and Arabia.

It is an evergreen succulent shrub, growing to 3mtrs in height, with pachycaul stems and a stout, swollen basal caudex. The leaves are spirally arranged, clustered toward the tips of the shoots, the flowers are tubular, 2-5 cm long, with the outer portion 4-6 cm diameter with five petals, these tend to red and pink, often with a whitish blush outward of the throat.