Pseudobombax ellipticum
Deciduous tree with succulent stems and large green/brown caudex, can form a tree over 10ft. tall. Large green leaves are smaller and red in full sun.
Pseudobombax ellipticum
Deciduous tree with succulent stems and large green/brown caudex, can form a tree over 10ft. tall. Large green leaves are smaller and red in full sun.
Boophane disticha
South African bulbs spherical to 20″, rippling leaves in a fan, red flowers. Poisonous.
Abundant thin green pads and bright yellow flowers. Grows tall, tree-like with a large round trunk forming.
Small tree to 6’t. w/swollen base. From Kauai, endangered.
Grows in rocky soils, lots of sun. Bulbous base, narrow green upright leaves. Yellow flowers. Winter growing.
Green narrow leaves. Yellow flowers. Winter growing.
Clump-forming shrubby rosettes, w/small yellow or orange blooms
Clump-forming shrubby rosettes, w/yellow blooms attractive to hummingbirds
Will form a small underground caudex. Yellow flowers. We grow them outside in the Bay Area year round, hardy if in very fast draining soil, though we don’t know how cold hardy.
Also Bulbine mesembryanthoides
Small fat windowed green leaves with translucent tops. Grows in rocky soils. Winter growing. Goes dormant in summer, often down to the ground. Flowers in spring. Easy to grow in fast draining soils.
Grassy w/tall pyramidal bloom-stalks, yellow blooms
Small tree to 14ft.; Copal resin burned for incense.
Bonsai tree, large caudex w/fragrant sap and peeling bark. Can grow 5ft tall and lots of wild branches. Deciduous in winter.
Grows well in mild coastal climates. Large shrub eventually growing to 16ft tall. The Copal resin can be used for incense and fragrances. Tiny white flowers, small red berries.
Freely branching shrub, natural bonsai; papery white bark, small leaflet pairs. Has a swollen, succulent trunk resembling elephant legs. Small creamy white flowers in summer.
Freely branching small tree; peeling bark, small leaflet pairs
Slow growing shrub, natural bonsai; rare; caudex with peeling bark. Can get to 10 feet tall.
Cistanthe grandiflora
Low-mounding shrub with bunches of bright magenta flowers.
Low-mounding shrub with bunches of bright magenta flowers.
Large caudex, 1 to 2 feet, with grassy leaves, winter-growing, outside in Bay Area
Whitish branches, spreads readily, lots of red flowers on the tips in summer. Bare stems look like bleached coral. Large clumps 10-12″ tall. Rot-prone in winter makes it difficult to keep alive through to spring.
Stunning clusters of burgundy flowers with golden-yellow throats. Forms large clumps up to 3ft tall. Soft, green, euphorbia-like 4-sided stems. Regular water in the hottest parts of the summer, do not overwater in winter.
Classic giant cactus from the American Southwest. Slow growing. Will grow their first arm around 75-100 years old and can live 150-200 years. Some populations hardy to 15F if dry in winter.
“It can take 10 years for a saguaro cactus to reach 1 inch in height. By 70 years of age, a saguaro cactus can reach 6 and a half feet tall, and will finally start to produce their first flowers. By 95-100 years in age, a saguaro cactus can reach a height of 15-16 feet, and could start to produce its first arm.”
https://www.nps.gov/orpi/learn/nature/saguaro-cactus.htm
Bottle tree to 50 ft. in ground with dense thorns on trunk. Deciduous.
Very slow growing shrub to 6’h. with tiny ovoid green leaves
Portulacaria pygmaea
Natural bonsai shrub succulent, to 8″h., with small thick green leaves. Stems can get 4″ thick.
C. peruvianus fa. monstrose
Scalloped columns, blue; varies – some specimens very branchy, tall
C. repandus fa. monstrose “Minima”
Small bumpy columns – varied branchy
C. peruvianus fa. monstrose “Rojo”
C. repandus fa. monstruosus cv. “Rojo”
Large white night-blooming flowers pollinated by bats, will produce edible fruit in hillside areas with bat populations.