Elephant's foot plants with different caudex forms

In this post I want to share some of my relatively large elephant's foot plants, roughly the ones whose caudex is more than 6 cm across.

On the elephant's foot plant page I talked about the saying "water makes it round, light makes it crack." But I grow these on the same bench, in similar potting mix and with similar care, meaning roughly the same water and light, and I have found that their caudices still differ in form.

You can see a lot of different caudex forms: the naval-mine form, one closer to a petal-like pattern, and the more common pineapple bun form. Each has its own character. You can also see a slight difference in the color of the caudex skin: some are a lighter brown and some a blackish brown. By this I mean the color of the skin itself, not the brighter brown lines next to cracks that are still growing.

Perhaps my sample is still too small. I have only about ten or so large plants, so I cannot yet tell how the forms differ under the same conditions.

I usually love looking at their shapes. They are really the result of time building up, and I think that is part of what makes caudex plants so captivating. Looking at plants like these, which you rarely see in daily life, lets you feel the sense of healing and relaxation that plants bring to people.