Hey stanofh,

I know very little about the pony tail palm, and nothing about B. guatemalensis, so take this with a grain of salt. :-)

I think sometimes plants that form a caudex only do so when grown from seed. And since variegation is almost impossible to achieve from seed, and must, most often, be reproduced through cuttings, maybe this was grown from a cutting of a variegated pony tail palm and does not have a caudex because it wasn't grown from seed?

I will be curious to see what someone who knows more on the subject says. :-)

PS: After looking up images of B. guatemalensis, it does look more like it, i think?

PS 2: Found a post on the forums, about halfway down lzrddr shows a picture of a B. guatemalensis varigated. It looks exactly like yours.

Here is a link that might be useful: B. guatemalensis varigated

Thanks,I'd forgotten that post. I'm leaning to B.guatamalensis now. Its got the same dull green leaves,not shiny like B. recurvata. If the Dr. agree's I'm going to have to remember to cover this one on any z9b nights in my z10a. Freak freezes are to be watched for.

Stan, first, your varigated Beaucarnea/Pony Tail Palm is gorgeous.
Do you have a photo of the entire plant?

My variegated Pony tail is 4-yrs-old...It's just now forming a caudex/thick trunk.

{{gwi:672699}}

I love the aerial roots on your plant..They look striped. Toni

they will form a caudex, but certainly not as impressive as the mother plant as these are all cuttings in cultivation.. still, it will take some time but the base does swell.. just nothing like you want it to...