Australian Succulents

Australia has almost no native succulents; except for a few barely fleshy weeds, unlike the well-known rich diversity of succulents in Africa.  This has been a long-standing and widespread view. Even the world famous British cactus & succulent author, Gordon Rowley in1978 also supported this view in his book ‘The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Succulents’ Salamander Books UK (page 36).

In the year 2006 this common view was still held worldwide. In Australia in gardening circles and even specialised cacti and succulent groups in all the major cities had little knowledge or awareness of what wonderful succulents could really be found ‘out there’.

In the coming years these succulent plants will increase in popularity partly through this website and the book titled, ‘Australian Succulent Plants’.

Succulent plants grow in semi-arid or seasonally dry regions found across most of Australia, sometimes even in tropical and other seasonally wetter parts of the country. In more moist and humid areas, there are some succulent plants that are found in drier micro-habitats, such as on exposed trees or rocks.

Australia can boast at least 400 species that can be regarded as succulent.

Much of Australia has the most irregular rainfall of any continent.
It is a land of drought or deluge, sometimes with little moderation in between.

All the pictures here with this article show a range of very succulent Australian plants photographed near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia in spring 2006.

How many different species are apparent?

How many can you identify?

Plants such as the introduced Bryophyllum delagoense and Opuntia tomentosa and the native Adansonia gregorii, Dendrobium speciosum, Halosarcia bulbosa, Hoya australis and Portulaca oleracea are all Australian succulent plants that share several common features.

They can all be found growing naturally across Australia, all utilise water storage mechanisms in the leaves, stems or roots, and are more sun and dry-tolerant than most plants.