my ismene
boutin (Sun, 19 Jun 2005 18:21:55 PDT)

Curiously, even though an old specimen of Beaucarnea recurvata can have a
very enlarged tuberoid trunk to several feet in diameter at the base of the
stems which suggests that it might extend into the ground like a carrot, or
be the top of a bulb, it actually sits on top of the soil with a more or
less flat bottom with many anchoring roots. This is probably an adaptation
for growing on very thin soil over rocks.

Fred