[3] Adenium obesum is grown as a houseplant in temperate and tropical regions.

Adeniums are appreciated for their colorful flowers and unusual thick caudices.

Genetically identical plants can also be propagated by cutting.

The sap of Adenium boehmianum, A. multiflorum, and A. obesum contains toxic cardiac glycosides and is used as arrow poison throughout Africa for hunting large game.

In the Philippines, due to its resemblance to the related genus Plumeria, and the fact that it was introduced to the Philippines from Bangkok, Thailand, the plant is also called as Bangkok kalachuchi.