CHARACTERISTICS:

The ponytail palm takes its name from its resemblance to hair cascadeing out of a ponytail. It's also called a "bottle palm" because its trunk becomes a bottle like bulb at soil level. Because of its massive size the plants are mostly root-bound. While they can store water in their bulb, and use their water slowly, they probably don't have a lot of soil in their pot. If the roots become too dry the lower leaves turn brown or yellow and the plant looks a little ashy.

These are durable high light plants. They take up a lot of room and the leaf edges are rather sharp.

PRUNING:

Remove discolored lower leaves. Do not trim brown off the ends. Brown is normal and more cutting will produce more brown, plus a jagged edge.