Elephant foot
Beaucarnea recurvata
This item is a set of plants with the planter!
Height (including pot) 35 cm, breeding pot 11 cm
The elephant foot is an easy-care yet unusual houseplant
Characteristics
Origin
The elephant's foot (Beaucarnea recurvata) is also called the bottle tree, water palm or elephant tree - it is often still sold under its old genus name Nolina. The tree originally comes from Mexico. It grows there in tropical dry forests as a succulent tree and can reach a height of around nine meters and the trunk can reach a diameter of one meter. However, when grown in pots, the elephant's foot remains significantly smaller. It belongs to the asparagus family (Asparagaceae) and is related, among other things, to the yucca. In terms of habit it is similar to the Australian bottle tree, also known as the lucky tree, but is not related to it.
An elephant foot is robust, very durable and extremely easy to care for. As a houseplant or office plant, it is particularly suitable for beginners, as it forgives the occasional care mistake.
growth
The plant has a rounded, thickened trunk base and densely growing, overhanging narrow leaves. With its unusual habitus, it is reminiscent of the shape of an elephant's foot or the neck of a bottle, as the various names suggest. Even though the elephant's foot grows very slowly, after a few years it can reach a height of almost one and a half meters. The exceptionally thickened, barky trunk serves as a water reservoir. Above the thickening, the elephant feet usually grow on a single shoot, but rarely also on multiple shoots.
leaves
The grey-green and very narrow, loosely hanging leaves can be up to 50 centimeters long and are arranged spirally around the shoot. As with the yucca and the dragon tree, they sprout at the top of the shoot and gradually die off at the bottom, so that only the ends of the shoot have leaves.
butene
In very favorable, i.e. sunny and warm locations, it forms long panicles with small white flowers after many years, but even older plants in indoor cultivation rarely bloom.
Frank Schuberth
The elephant foot really lives up to its name
Location
As a real desert child, the elephant's foot loves a place in the sun with full enjoyment of the light. In the shade it would grow even slower than it already does. Summer temperatures can climb as high as the weather allows. However, strong midday heat should be mitigated by curtains or trees that cast shade in front of the window, otherwise the delicate leaves will burn very quickly. In winter the temperatures should be between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius.
Elephant feet quickly get cold in drafts, so you should avoid drafty places for them. They can certainly be cultivated outdoors in the summer, but they should then be gradually acclimated to a new location over a period of two weeks. To do this, first place them in a little shade and then move them to a brighter spot every few days until the leaves get used to the bright sunlight.
substrate
The elephant's foot requires well-drained, loose soil. Permeable cactus soil, including humus-rich leaf mold, which is mixed with plenty of coarse sand, is suitable as a substrate.
Pour
Because of its succulent stem, the elephant's foot does not require much water. You should therefore water moderately during the growth phase. You can easily check the condition of the substrate with a finger test. You water the elephant's foot until the first drops run out of the drain hole. Frequent watering should be avoided, otherwise the leaves will turn brown and waterlogging will inevitably occur