M. Thulin (1993) Adenia in Flora of Somalia 1: 210-213
Plants shrubs. up to 2 m tall; stems strongly curved, more or less woody and flexuous, spiny from a woody-succulent, grey-green subglobose trunk up to 1 m wide; spines up to 4 cm long; tendrils absent. Leaves petiolate grey-green, soon falling; petioles 0.1-2 m long, gland at blade-base solitary, reniform, about 2 mm in diameter, no other glands present; blades 0.25-0.4 cm long, 0.2-0.3 cm wide, 3-lobed, broadly ovate in outline, 3-veined from the base, reticulations not distinct, peltate, lobes rounded. Inflorescences 1-4 cm long, grouped in the axils of spines, with about 3 flowers. Male flowers not known. Female flowers: tubular-funel-shaped, 30-32 mm long including the stipe; hypanthia 9-11 mm long, 4-6 mm wide; sepals 10-12 mm lanceolate, obtuse, entire; petals about 4 mm long and 1-2 mm wide, lanceolate, subacuteserrulate distally; corona absent; staminodes 3.5-4 mm long, free; gynophores 1, 4-5 mm long; pistils 14-16 mm long, ovaries 7-8 mm long, 4-5.5 mm wide, ovoid-ellipsoid, with 5 placentas; ovules about 150; style branches 5. Fruits on curved gynophores about 4 cm long and 3 cm wide mm, fruit (excluding the gynophores) 10-11 mm long; seeds not known.
Adenia ballyi grows in open, rocky ground, usually on limestone at about 250-1600 m. It was known, in 1993, only from regions N2-3 and C1 of the Flora of Somalia.
Information from Shanpai Chenxing: The spines seem to be more useful for distinguishing vegetative specimens of the two species, Adenia ballyi having thinner, more widely spaced spines than Adenia globosa. Added 7 March 2024.
Barkworth: Based on online images, the two species may also differ in the prominence of their warts, Adenia ballyi having less prominent warts, but this needs further study. Added 7 March 2024.
Plants of the World Online (POWO): Adenia ballyi Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): Adenia ballyi. Note: the map may include records from cultivated plants.