Octopus Plant – Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York, New York

The growing habit of the Didierea trollii is more horizontal than vertical. Its common names are the zigzag plant, the Octopus Plant, and the Octopus Tree. The Didierea begins its life as a slow, creeping serpentine shrub and will eventually grow to a large shrub with a fountainlike shape. There are only two species: the Didierea trollii and Didierea madagascariensis. Amazingly, the Didiereaceae family is represented only in Madagascar. It is also the dominant plant in the spiny thicket forest. The forests are rapidly disappearing because of charcoal production and expansion of agriculture for corn and cattle grazing