''Beaucarnea recurvata'', the elephant's foot or ponytail palm, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae (), known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. This family includes both ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to eastern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

; according to

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

it is now confined to the state of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, but

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

also cites it as occurring in

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

, and

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

. Despite its common name, it is not closely related to the true palms (

Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

). It has become popular in Europe and worldwide as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

. There are 350-year-old Beaucarneas registered in Mexico.

Description

It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

growing to in height, with an enormously expanded

caudex A caudex (: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is most ...

for storing water. This caudex can be as great as girth in the wild. The single palm-like stem produces terminal tufts of strap-shaped, recurved leathery leaves, sometimes hair lock-shaped in the ends, and with occasional

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

s of small white flowers once the plant reaches over 10 years of age. The trunk is swollen at the base and slender higher up; young plants are unbranched, but become well branched with age. The almost spherical

in the youth stage later becomes broadly conic and very wide at the base. The

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

is smooth or finely cracked. The leaves are green, linear, slightly recurved and bent, thin, flat or slightly ridged. They are up to long and up to wide. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are creamy-white, 1.5 mm diameter, produced in a dense panicle 90–112 cm tall.

Habitat

''Beaucarnea recurvata'' occurs over an altitudinal range of 200 to 900 m above sea level. It grows on rocky soils deficient in nutrients, cliffs and steep mountains, where it grows in full sun or partial shade. Its habitat is low deciduous forest, with average temperatures of 20 °C and an annual rainfall of 800 mm, and a well-marked dry season of between 7 and 8 months. The plants are very slow growing and very tolerant to drought.

Conservation

The species of the genus ''

Beaucarnea ''Beaucarnea'' is a genus of flowering plants native plant, native to Mexico and Central America. In the APG III system, APG III classification system, it is placed in the family (biology), family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the ...

'' are mostly in critical condition due to various anthropogenic activities, which has led to severe fragmentation and destruction of their habitat. Additionally, the collection of seeds, seedlings, juveniles and adults for commercial use has affected population size and the proportion of sexes, thereby reducing fertilization possibilities and, consequently, seed production. This exploitation process exposes this species, in a state of threat or extinction, by reducing the minimum viable size of the populations, as well as the deterioration of their genetic diversity. ''Beaucarnea recurvata'', is considered to be threatened according to Official Mexican Standard 059-ECOL-2010 of SEMARNAT in Mexico. The species is listed in Appendix II of the

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law ** Convention (political norm), uncodified legal or political tradition * Convention (meeting ...

(CITES) meaning international trade in the species and its parts/derivatives is regulated by the CITES permitting system.

Cultivation

Having gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

, ''B. recurvata'' is often grown as a

houseplant A houseplant, also known as a pot plant, potted plant, or indoor plant, is an ornamental plant cultivated indoors. for aesthetic or practical purposes. These plants are commonly found in House, homes, Office, offices, and various indoor spaces, w ...

, or an outdoor plant in

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

climate gardens. Slow-growing and drought-tolerant, ''Beaucarnea recurvata'' is

hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, ...

to , grows in full sun to light shade, and requires proper soil mix to drain when watered. However, be cautious not to over-water, as this will foster pests like the

mealybug Mealybugs are insects in the family Pseudococcidae, unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm habitats. Of the more than 2,000 described species, many are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and ...

and

cochineal The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessility (motility), sessile parasitism, parasite native to tropical and subtropical Sout ...

insect. If going to be kept in places with winter frost, it must be an indoor plant as it cannot resist cold temperatures. To maintain its original shape, the ends of its leaves should not be snipped, and when repotted it must keep all of its roots.

Toxicity

The species is not toxic to dogs, cats or horses.

Gallery

File:Beaucarnea recurvata, Llera, Tamaulipas, Mexico 2.jpg, In flower, Llera de Canales, Tamaulipas File:Monte (Funchal) - Beaucarnea recurvata (Elefantenfuß) IMG 2021.JPG, Cultivated,

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

island File:Monte (Funchal) - Beaucarnea recurvata (Elefantenfuß) IMG 1748.JPG, Cultivated, Madeira garden File:New Growth.jpg, Regrowth after a crown breakage on a cultivated plant in

Homestead, Florida Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the United States, U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and ...

File:Kokedama Praha balkon 2020 2.jpg, As

kokedama is a ball of soil, covered with moss, on which an ornamental plant grows. The idea has its origins in Japan, where it is a combination of the ''nearai'' (根洗い literally "root wash," but meaning "no pot") ''bonsai'' and ''kusamono'' plantin ...

in a city flat in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Czech Republic File:Beaucarnea recurvata serrated leaf margin.jpg, Macro image of the serrated margin of a leaf from a 7-year-old potted plant.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaucarnea recurvata recurvata Endemic flora of Mexico Flora of Veracruz Garden plants of North America Ornamental trees Drought-tolerant plants Caudiciform plants Taxa named by Charles Antoine Lemaire Taxa named by Karl Koch