Rick,
I like the upside down V shape also (八) with a mushroom-shaped canopy on top (︵) for my obesums.
I had toyed around with the idea of raising and elongating the tap root of some of my obesums, but I think this is better done with A. somalense? Is this the shape you are referring to as beach ball-on-a-straw? Or is this something else entirely?
Kadie