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Spekbooms

Portulacaria

Spekbooms
Photo: Unknown author, GFDL

Portulacaria is a genus of succulent shrubs and small trees from southern Africa, best known through the spekboom (P. afra), which is widely grown as a drought-tolerant garden and houseplant. It needs bright light, sharp drainage and infrequent watering.

Family
Didiereaceae (Didiere family)
Grows as
Succulent
Light
Full sun, Bright indirect
Water
Water deeply, then let the soil dry out completely before watering again; reduce water in winter.
Soil
Fast-draining cactus or succulent mix with added grit.
Temperature
18-30 °C; protect below 5 °C
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic

About

Portulacaria is a genus of succulent plant, classified in its own subfamily Portulacarioideae in the family Didiereaceae. It is indigenous to southern Africa.

Uses

Portulacaria afra normally uses C3 (or Hatch-Slack) carbon fixation but is also able to switch to CAM carbon fixation when drought stressed.

Other Portulacaria plants

Elephant bush · Whip porkbush · Portulacaria carrissoana · Dwarf Porkbush · Kaoko porkbush · Namaqua Spekboom · Pygmy Porkbush

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Portulacaria 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.

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