Species · genus Beaucarnea · Asparagaceae

Bottle-palm

Beaucarnea recurvata (K.Koch & Fintelm.) Lem.

Also known as: Elephant-foot-tree · Ponytail · Stripy Ponytail · Elephant's-foot · Ponytail Palm

Growth habit

caudex tree

Native range

Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest

Reference · B. recurvata

Cultivars of B. recurvata

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under B. recurvata yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Beaucarnea recurvata is a caudex-forming tree from arid regions of Mexico, storing water in its swollen base to survive drought. Give it bright light, ideally several hours of direct sun, and gritty, fast-draining mix. Water deeply but infrequently, only once the mix has dried out fully — wait until the top several inches are dry, and err toward leaving it longer, since the caudex rots if kept wet.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

10–30 °C

Soil mix

Well-draining sandy succulent mix

Propagation

Grown from seed or offsets from the base

Fertilizing

Balanced liquid feed monthly in spring and summer

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Rarely flowers indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Bottle-palm yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.