Didiereaceae

Elephant bush

Portulacaria afra Jacq.

Family: Didiereaceae
Genus: Portulacaria

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Elephant bush (Portulacaria afra) — FlowerPhoto: Henry de Lange, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (14)

Afrikaans: Spekboom
Arabic: رجلة الصبار, بورتولاكارية, صبار ترمس, صبار دمعة الطفل
arz: رجلة الصبار
Chinese: 樹馬齒莧, 马齿苋树, 树马齿苋
Croatian: Slanina drvo
Dutch: Spekboom
English: Elephant bush
Finnish: Pensasportulakka
French: Portulacaria
Hebrew: רגלנית אפריקנית
Lithuanian: Afrikinė portulakarija
Persian: پورتولاکاریا افرا
Urdu: پورٹولاکاریا افرا
Zulu: Isidondwane

Synonyms

Crassula portulacaria L.
Haenkea crassifolia Salisb.
Portulacaria afra f. macrophylla H.Jacobsen
Portulacaria afra f. microphylla H.Jacobsen
Portulacaria afra f. variegata H.Jacobsen
Portulacaria portulacaria (L.) Graebn.

Flowers

In flower: October to January (from 123 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Henry de Lange, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Shaun Swanepoel, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Shaun Swanepoel, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Andrew Hankey, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Abu Shawka, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: karentene, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Henry de Lange, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Michelino Cappai, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Nicola van Berkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Loyiso Tuswa, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF

More in Portulacaria

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.