PlantFiles: Mountain Cabbage Tree, Kiepersol
Cussonia paniculata subsp. sinuata

I have this plant in the old garden - grew quite well and kept a slender, non-suckering trunk (not what I experienced with its more common relative, Cussonia spicata.)

It twisted quite ornamentally as it looked for the best sunny spot and right now it's about 12' tall and has several nice bends in its trunk, topped with an attractive ball of turquoise leaves (unfortunately no photos of that plant). It's a great plant for xeriscapes and adds nice turquoise color in the landscape. It's slow growing and, only after many decades, could it outgrow its spot in the garden. Supposedly easy to grow from cuttings.

This is by far the more common subspecies in cultivation- Cussonia paniculata ssp paniculata is very rare and has less blue color and less deeply lobed leaves. Also tends to be a smaller plant overall.

Native to South Africa, will winter in the greenhouse and then go in the ground.

This plant is considered a pachycaul succulent on the basis of its swollen stem base or tuber which forms early in plants grown from seed. Roots are also thick and swollen. The tree is slow growing.