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Portulacaria afra
Also called Elephant Food, Common Spekboom, Elephant's Food, Porkbush
In Singapore: Rainbow Bush, Variegated Elephant Bush, Variegated Elephant's Food, Elephant's Food, Elephant Bush (Grown in Singapore)
Elephant bush (Portulacaria afra) is a small-leaved, drought-tolerant succulent shrub or small tree from southern Africa, usually grown as a sunny houseplant or outdoor landscape plant in frost-free areas. It is easy to care for as long as it gets plenty of sun and is not overwatered.
Portulacaria afra (known as elephant bush, porkbush, purslane tree, dwarf jade and spekboom in Afrikaans) is a small-leaved succulent plant found in South Africa. These succulents commonly have a reddish stem and green leaves, but a variegated cultivar is often seen in cultivation. They are simple to care for and make easy houseplants for a sunny location. In frost-free regions they may be used in outdoor landscaping.
In the wilds of South Africa, large plants do survive the winter frosts by growing dense enough to provide their own natural cover. Drought-tolerant and fire-resistant, it will endure desert sun and heat once established, which the jade plant will not. P. afra is a common landscape plant in Phoenix, Arizona, and southern California, growing in USDA plant hardiness zones 9–11. Cuttings root very easily in most potting media.
It is very widespread in the east of South Africa (as well as Eswatini). In this moist climate, it is relatively rare, and tends to favour dryer rocky outcrops and slopes.
Whip porkbush · Portulacaria carrissoana · Dwarf Porkbush · Kaoko porkbush · Namaqua Spekboom · Pygmy Porkbush · Spekbooms
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Portulacaria afra 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.
