Species · genus Portulacaria · Didiereaceae

Elephant Bush

Portulacaria afra Jacq.

Also known as: Elephant Food · Common Spekboom · Elephant's Food · Porkbush

Growth habit

succulent shrub

Native range

Cape Provinces, Eswatini, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, Northern Provinces

Reference · P. afra

Cultivars of P. afra

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

No named cultivars catalogued under P. afra 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.

Portulacaria afra is a succulent shrub from the warm, dry regions of southern and eastern Africa, with fleshy leaves that store water against drought. Give it the brightest spot you have, ideally several hours of direct sun, and a gritty, fast-draining mix. Water deeply only once the soil has gone fully dry, roughly every 10 to 21 days, since standing moisture readily rots the roots and stem.

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 10-21d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 21 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

10–29 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining succulent or cactus mix

Propagation

Stem cuttings left to callus, then rooted in dry mix

Fertilizing

Dilute feed a few times through spring and summer

Growth rate

Moderate

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 10-21d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Elephant Bush 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.