Family: Didiereaceae
Portulacaria afra is a straggling, much-branched shrub or small tree with succulent stems and leaves, 1 to 3 m high. Native to the Mediterranean climates of South Africa, it has been widely used as a houseplant, and in tropical areas is grown outdoors as a high ground cover, unclipped hedge or screen, or specimen plant. It can spread by wind dispersed seeds which are rarely produced in cultivation and may be more likely to be spread vegetatively by dumped garden waste, branches touching the ground, or by root suckers. It has naturalized in Australia where there is concern that it could become a weed in arid regions. It has not been documented as naturalized in the Hawaiian Islands to date, and because of its ability to resist fire, may be useful as a fuel break in fire prone areas of the islands.
High Risk Traits:
- Broad elevation range
- Naturalized in Australia and perhaps elsewhere
- A possible weed of arid regions in Australia
- Tolerates many soil types
- Forms dense stands withing native range
- Reproduces by seeds (rarely in cultivation) and vegetatively by rooting branches and suckers
- Seeds, when produced, dispersed by wind and externally by ants and other animals, as well as through intentional cultivation
- Vegetative fragments spread in dumped garden waste, attached to animals, and through intentional cultivation
- Tolerates and resprouts after browsing, and other physical damage, and is resistant to fire
Low Risk Traits:
- Negative impacts have not been documented to date.
- Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
- Highly palatable to browsing animals
- Non-toxic
- Grows best in high light environments (dense shade may inhibit spread)
- Fire resistant
- Limited flowering and fruiting in cultivation may reduce accidental or long-distance dispersal
