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Pachycormus discolor
Also called Succulent Elephant Trees, Baja Elephant Tree
The Baja elephant tree is a drought-deciduous, succulent-trunked tree or shrub from the Baja California peninsula, grown mainly by collectors of caudiciform succulents. Give it full sun, very little water, and keep it frost-free.
Pachycormus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the cashew family commonly known as the Baja elephant tree, torote blanco, or copalquín. The single species Pachycormus discolor is endemic to the Baja California peninsula, with three varieties. This sarcocaulescent tree or shrub is characterized by its unique gnarled growth habit, skin-like exfoliating bark, and succulent nature, whose appearance has been colorfully described as "the proboscis of an elephant holding a nosegay," a "huge radish protruding from the ground," or "grotesque resemblances of the flexed limbs of a corpulent human being." This drought-deciduous species spends most of the year dormant, but following rains pinnate green leaves emerge, and in the late spring to summer the leaves yellow, fall, and give way to bright red, cream, or pink flowers that give it a striking appearance in bloom.
This species is endemic to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, occupying the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. The three varieties are subsequently endemic to their own parts of the peninsula. San Fernando Velicatá delimits the northern vicinity of this species, with variety pubescens found from there to the lower part of the peninsula near La Paz and various Gulf islands. In the far western parts of the peninsula, var. veatchiana occupies the western margins of the Vizcaino desert, Cedros Island, and the Natividad islands. In the south-western part of the peninsula, var. discolor is found on the islands of Magdalena Bay and the western flanks of the southern Sierra de La Giganta.
Plants are grown in containers by caudiciform succulent aficionados. Plants do best in full sun. Only seed grown specimens develop the caudex. This species is marginally frost tolerant, with tip damage at 32 °F (0 °C), death at 25 °F (−4 °C).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pachycormus discolor by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
