One of my texts mentions Cephalopentandra ecirrhosa as having a large and interesting caudex without much foliage. But I don´t have one and know nothing more about it. You´re sure to get loads more ideas.

Begonia Dregei, Trichodiadema densum, Oxalis Megalorrhiza, Euphorbia Suzannae-Marnierae. Here's a few of the cool smaller ones that I like, I've never kept any of these but they're on my list.

pluto

I would check some Aloinopsis and/or Adromischus sp. I believe that many stay quite small. I don't know how easy or difficult they are. Have you looked at Euphobias? ycloth has been showing many, here is one of his threads showing many different 'fat plants' (there is link to 1st thread there too). I don't know how fast any would grow either. I just think they are mostly slow...

Rina - I've seen many of ycloth's fat plants - he's part of my problem :) From photographs it can be difficult to get a sense of scale. Most people just take a perfectly framed picture of their plant, but with nothing else in it I can't tell if it's a 2" pot or 12". Plus he has great conditions and has been doing this a while.

I've seen many plants at Out of Africa, but I don't want to spend money on a plant and have it shipped, only to find out that it's one of the more difficult ones to care for.

Definitely don't do that. To get yourself started and acquainted with caudiciforms, I recommend adeniums---cheap, easy, fast and resilient.

haha...he is causing same problems for me too! I already got 2 euprhorbias - but they don't look even close to his. I understand that there are many sp, and am not sure what exactly mine is. But his have really nice leaves. Maybe I am not watering enough???

Here is measuring tape for scale, barely 1.5" from soil line. Pot is 3.5":

BUT wait!!! I just found something interesting:

Thanks to you - I was taking photo for you with the tape. No caudex that I can see. But I also read that cutting grown plants will not develop great caudex. And it that it grows bigger while buried...I am not exactly sure which plants grow real caudex and which ones just 'swollen roots' - if that is actually difference...Lots more to learn :)
I see thickening on faucaria, have to take some photos.

ewwmayo has some, hope he will see your post.

Rina - Glad I could help :)

Pagan - I've been lurking on the adenium forum too - but I have the same problem with sense of scale. Some people show plants that look like they must be 2 feet tall, others show ones that look like 2 inches... Are some adenium easier than others?

You probably know about it, but would Beaucarnea recurvata count? (Elephant Foot Palm, Bottle Palm, Not Really a Palm Palm) They can get tall, but I've grown them from seed, and the tallest one is maybe two feet from the bottom of the pot, but they do get much bigger if grown well. I have one in a container garden to the side of a grow light so that the bottom part gets ancillary light and the top part has room. Another is on a shelf in an upper part of a window, but no grow light, so they don't get real big for me. It was in a succulent seed mix and I thought it was a weed, but let it grow anyway. Good thing.

I would love many of these. I need to be careful, because I don't have room for tall ones either.

Rina that looks like Euphorbia decaryi var. decaryi.

Pagan is probably right, I pretty much started with adenium and pachypodium, but I find pachypodium to be easier.

Pluto if you have any interest in growing pachypodium from seed I have plenty of seeds to share, just lmk.

isde

Thank you for the tip!

pluto

I just added photo with measuring tape - I noticed it was missing (too excited about finding that offset, haha :)

The easiest caudex succulent I've owned so far is Jathropha berlandieri. This plant I would say is a good beginner plant. Jathropha barlandieri hasn't given me that nervous feeling like "Oh God am I going to kill it?!". Goes in and out of dormancy when the time comes. They come from Texas and northern Mexico. This is the only caudex succulent I can leave outside during my winters. Everything else has to come in.

The foliage is really pretty, but unfortunately you can't tell in this pic. Doesn't grow vines.

Cute little red flowers. Grows a ton of them;). I really wish I had better pics to show.

How it looks now. Pretty soon it should start sprouting new growth.

You can also get seeds with one plant.

Kara! Please share where one can obtain a Jatropha berlandieri, either plants or seeds. Magnificent!

Pluto I think your fixing to embark on a great adventure of caudex plants.Most cool ones vine like crazy.and get big but takes time.

Euphorbia do have many that stay squat and in your size area.E kondoi,E stellata ,E squarrosa, E rossii just to name a very few.and are little more forgiving on the care

Like jeffO said Beaucarnea recurvata get nice fat caudex's and not lot of height

Have fun with search

This is from another thread - posted by:

beaucarnea recurvata

davids10 z7a nv.November 15, 2014

this began as a 3 inch .99 grocery store plant.

I don't know how many years to get it to this size...

I'm going to suggest a Ficus, maybe a Microcarpa aka Retusa. I've seen them sort of 'Bonsaied' may 10-12" tall. I've had one once or twice, beautiful, caudex-like roots, & seemingly not difficult.

If not that, Al (Tapla) could probably suggest a nice, compact Ficus w/ caudex or 2.

I'd start w/ a less expense & common caudex to learn their culture before spending serious money on something special (pricey).

Karen, that's exactly what I am hoping for. I'd like to spend

I HATE the Houzz app. I don't know why that last comment cut off, I could see it all on my screen before I clicked post. I also cannot search the Gardenweb forums from the app...

At any rate, Karen, I was trying to say I'd like to spend less than $20 if possible, then if it stays alive and I maintain my interest (squirrel!) I can venture into more expensive and/or difficult plants. That will also give me time to develop my indoor growing space a little.

Adenium samples:

This is an Adenium obesum, 4 years old, grown very hard to keep it small.

A. arabicum, also grown hard, 4 years old.

My prized possession: A. obesum, grown ridiculously hard, even spent one summer PIG'ed. Also 4 years old.
Most people amp these plants up so they get very big very fast. You can grow them from seeds. For less than 10 dollars you can get 15 seeds and if your source is good, they will all germinate. A couple of years with these plants and I think you'd learn the basics of keeping caudiciforms happy. Then you can detonate your wallet getting more exotic types.

Go check out Birhman's Caudex, its a great resource on caucidiform plants. I have had a few and have loved them.

Rina_Ontario, Mine is @ least 44 years old...a gift from my grandmother the day (need a day photo)

Vanessa

Thank you for posting - that is a beauty.

Pluto, Fockea edule is a moderate size plant that grows reasonably fast for a caudex plant. You would have to accommodate space for its' vines though. You can keep the vines trimmed. That would slow its' growth down. It is an Asclepiad so you would want to wash your hands if/when exposed to latex. The plant in the picture is many years old. Don't worry, you will have moved and have more room by the time yours is this big.

Tan & Stush, I would add E. hedyotoides to your list. I also think the medusoids, although not true caudex plants, feel caudex(ey) to me.

Kara, J. berlandieri has proven to be one of the more difficult ones for me. It and the Ipomoea species grow great until I water in the wrong season. Oops, I popped the balloon and it's gone. I am trying to grow J.b. again under covered protection now. I love it and want to succeed.

Rina, If you have E. decaryi, you will not get a caudex. These reproduce by runners like Sansevieria. I think the leaves you were admiring are Ycloh's E. francoisii. This plant will make a caudex over time and the leaves are some of the best. Ycloh also grows E. tulearensis which looks like E. decaryi. They may be related but their growth pattern and rate are very different. The 1st is Very slow growing, may make a swollen base in time. I don't believe it makes runners.

Pagan & Isde, I agree Adenium and Pachypodium are good choices. I do think they may be too large for Pluto's space though. I agree with Isde that the Pachys are somewhat more tolerant of mistakes than Adeniums. As with the Jatropha above I have great growth with the Adenium until I forget to protect them from rain in the wrong season. The caudex I am getting so proud of just goes poof.

aloebot

Thank you very much. It is likely decaryi, as there is 1 runner on one of the plants. I like them - even if they don't have caudex. And yes about leaves of euphorbias ycloth posted (E. francosii) - they are really nice.

If I could ask you to look at this thread - tanpex is looking for ID on one of his aloes...(toward end of thread):

Rina, E. decaryi is the Euph. that got me hooked on Madagascan Euphorbias. You must be Vewy, vewy careful or it will hook you too!

haha...it already did! I keep looking for them but can't find any (probably want them even more because of that!)