h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Some friends on a social site whose name I will not utter asked some questions about some of the succulent plants I grow. There are three species people tend to confuse. They are the Porkbush, the Kerky Bush and the Beestebal. The latter two are usually mistaken for the Porkbush. Porkbushes are famous over here since they comprise the Addo Bush where the last wild Cape Elephants live. The elephants eat it. Humans can eat the leaves too. It is also said to be excellently efficient at producing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide.

This is a porkbush: note the reddish, long and straight branches:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Spekboom2_zps62be131d.jpg

My porkbushes aren't currently flowering - I'll soon try and get some flower photos. They have small pink flowers. The Porkbush's scientific name is Portulacaria afra, and it is in the Purslane family.

Now the Kerky Bush is also called a Money Plant or a Jade Plant and is popular overseas as a house plant. Some forms with weirdly shaped leaves have been cultivated. Here in South Africa it does well in gardens and can become a huge, thick-stemmed bush. These are the flowers of a Kerky Bush - note they are pinkish:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Kerkeibosblomme2_zps9908db54.jpg

The Kerky Bush's scientific name is Crassula ovata, and it is in the stonecrop family.

The Beestebal is a close relative of the Kerky Bush, but much more rarely grown. It is similar in form but has larger leaves that have a greyish bloom. Its flowers are white and a bit larger than those of the Kerky Bush. This is a Beestebal in flower - with an attending skink who's on the watch for flies and bees attracted to the flowers:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Skink3_zpsae41a63f.jpg

The Beestebal's scientific name is Crassula arborescens and it, too, is a member of the Stonecrop family.

Here I compare the three species - all at the same scale (direct scans).

Twigs: http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/SpekboomBeestebalKerkeibos2_zps2d20e601.jpg

Leaves: http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/SpekboomBeestebalKerkeibos1b_zpsbb5b2476.jpg



The Porkbush is on the left, the Beestebal in the middle, and the Kerky bush on the right. The Porkbush has the longest, straightest branches and their red colour is a giveaway. The Beestebal has the stoutest branches along with the largest leaves, and their dull grey bloom is a giveaway as well. I'm going to plant these three twigs again - all three these species can grow ridiculously easily from cuttings!

Right. Now I know you can't get enough of those clever skinks so here's another photo, a good close-up of one. The top of the Beestebal shrub is so even and dense that the skinks easily walk around on it. So far I haven't been lucky enough to actually see them catch anything, though! This photo also shows nice details of the flowers:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Skink4_zps2983ba05.jpg

And since folks have been commenting on the aloe ... here is another species flowering right now, Aloe microstigma. Notice how different its flowers are from those of Aloe wickensii:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Aloemicrostigma1_zps68022198.jpg