Elephant’s Foot, Beaucarnea Recurvata, Ponytail Palm

Oddly enough, a ponytail palm tree is neither a palm nor a tree. In fact, it is a member of the Agave family and is actually a succulent. Other common names for this plant include the bottle palm tree or the elephant foot tree. In the past, it has been classified as either Nolina recurvata or Beaucarnea recurvata, but the latter is now the correct classification of this plant.

The ponytail is a weird palm like succulent with a greatly expanded base and a single trunk with a rosette of long, strap like leaves that arch and drop. With age, the trunk eventually develops a few branches. Ponytail can get up to 30 ft (9.1 m) tall and the base up to 12 ft (3.7 m) across, but houseplants generally remain less than 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m) tall.