Beaucarnea recurvata × Calibanus hookeri
This is a cross between 2 plants native to Mexico: Beaucarnea recurvata from southeastern Mexico, and Calibanus hookeri from east-central Mexico. DNA studies have led to the conclusion that the ancestry of Calibanus is embedded within Beaucarnea, resulting in the new name Beaucarnea hookeri, but this has not really caught on in horticulture. In any case, Calibanus plants do not ever make the elongated stems seen in other Beaucarnea species, instead growing like boulders sprouting tufts of grass-like foliage. The hybrid pictured here is already making a stem, so it looks more like its mom in that respect, but its flowers look more like a Calibanus. It will be interesting to see how big it ultimately gets. Note that the flowers are tiny, so it is hard to get decent resolution with my iPhone - but I did my best. The plant family here was formerly Nolinaceae, but a new classification has it as the subfamily Nolinoideae within the Asparagus Family.
Brian
