Portulacaria afra

Elephant's food, elephant bush

Shrub up to 3 m high with fleshy branches. The fleshy leaves are oval to round, 1-2 cm long, with practically no stalk. The terminal spikes bear numerous small pink flowers. Two morphologically indistinguishable forms occur: one heavily browsed by goats and sheep and one which is not.

					As % of dry matter
				DM	CP	CF	Ash	EE	NFE	Ca	P	Ref
Fresh leaves, South
Africa				17.8	11.8	14.6	11.8	3.9	57.9	2.87	0.35	193
Fresh aerial part,
30 cm high, Kenya					10.7	11.9	19.1	3.8	54.5	1.40	0.12	129
Hay, Zimbabwe					8.5	20.9	9.8	3.8	57.0			19