Licensed representative photographPlant Guide
Ponytail Palm
Beaucarnea recurvata
Other known names: Elephant-foot Tree
A drought-tolerant caudiciform with a swollen trunk base and long arching leaves.
Published source-backed guide. This guide meets Lorekeeper's published source, care-completeness, safety, and identity checks. It is source-backed, not an expert-review claim.
Safety not yet verified. Confirm the exact identification before deciding whether this plant is safe around children or pets. Catalog note: No toxicity claim is added in this provisional batch; confirm pet questions with a trusted veterinary source.
Care
- Light
- Very bright light with acclimated sun.
- Water
- Allow substantial drying, then water completely and drain.
- Growing medium
- A gritty fast-draining mix in a stable pot.
- Feeding
- Feed sparingly during active growth.
- Temperature
- 50-85 F.
- Humidity
- Average to dry household humidity.
- When to consider watering
- Use root-zone dryness and pot weight; never water only because a date arrived.
- Watering method
- Allow substantial drying, then water completely and drain. Wet the root ball evenly and never leave drainage trapped in a cachepot.
- Repotting
- Repot only when roots, drainage, stability, or broken-down medium justify it; increase the pot size modestly.
- Pruning
- Remove damaged growth with clean tools and avoid unnecessary pruning during stress.
- Beginner note
- Treat reminders as prompts to observe. Record what you found, then complete, snooze, pause, or adjust the care item.
Observe the plant and growing medium before acting. A reminder is a prompt to check, not an automatic instruction to water.
Characteristics
A drought-tolerant caudiciform with a swollen trunk base and long arching leaves.
Names & botanical identity
- Accepted name
- Beaucarnea recurvata
- Plant family
- Asparagaceae
- Plant group
- Succulents
- Other known names
- Elephant-foot Tree
- Safety
- Safety not yet verified
Confirm the exact identification before deciding whether this plant is safe around children or pets. Catalog note: No toxicity claim is added in this provisional batch; confirm pet questions with a trusted veterinary source.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree-like succulent with a swollen base.
- Mature size
- 6–8 ft tall × 3–5 ft wide in a pot
- Native range
- Eastern Mexico.
- Temperature
- 50-85 F.
- Humidity
- Average to dry household humidity.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Propagation
Usually grown from seed; offsets may be separated when rooted.
When you add a propagation to Lorekeeper, connect it to the mother plant so its history and lineage remain intact.
Problems to recognize
These links describe possible or look-alike relationships, not a diagnosis. Start with visible evidence and rule out alternatives.
- Excess moisture / root stress: The swollen base and roots are vulnerable to a continuously wet pot.
- Root rot syndrome: A soft caudex or dark roots requires immediate inspection.
- Spider mites: Long narrow leaves can conceal light stippling.
History & lineage
Despite its common name, Beaucarnea recurvata is not a true palm; it is a caudiciform relative of agaves and stores water in its swollen base.
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