1285

 Beaucarnea recurvata Lem.

Synonym	:	Beaucarnea inermis (S.Watson) Rose
Family	:	Asparagaceae
Local name	:	English         - Elephant's foot
Flowering and fruiting period	:	February -april
Distribution	:	south-eastern Mexico.
Habitat	:	Ornamental
IUCN Status		Critically Endangered
Endemic / Exotic	:	Exotic
Uses	:	Ornamental
Key Botanical Characters  : It is a dioecious, evergreen, succulent tree up to 9 m tall (but rarely more than 1,20 to 2,50 indoors) with a very noticeable swollen base that tapers up to a slender trunk that ends in a head of green and recurving foliage. uvenile plants are single-stemmed with a bulbous base that start thickening at an early seedling stage, forming soon a neat, firm, rounded caudex and the small plants are pulled underground by contractile roots.  rap-like, grass-like, thin, flat narrow, dark green, 90-200 cm long and 1-2,5 cm wide that form clumps at the ends of the branches and droop down. Large, pyramidal shaped panicles 75-110 cm tall at the branch tips. Greenish-white to yellowish-crème coloured with six tepals, but very small and inconspicuous individually (1.5 mm diameter), but on the whole quite showy in the clusters that extend above the leaves.  Reddish winged fruit with 2-3 seeds.