Australian native succulents adapted to drought and heat
Echeverias, aloes, agaves and string of pearl succulents are extremely popular in our gardens due to their toughness, but they originate from South Africa and Mexico. Australia has its own native succulents that do more than one job — around 400 species by conservative estimates.
Several are excellent garden plants and understanding their local adaptations and wildlife benefits are part of what makes them interesting.
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Why Australia's succulents are different
Much of Australia experiences intense, irregular rainfall rather than long predictable dry seasons. This has produced a different set of drought adaptations in Australian plants: deep root systems, small leaves, dormancy strategies and sometimes underground succulence rather than in leaves and stems.
The result is that Australian succulents do not always have the same features we have come to expect from foreign species. But as a group, they reward closer attention.
As well as being tough, Australia's native succulents produce berries and flowers that feed birds, lizards and insects. This dual value is what makes them worth growing over their exotic counterparts.
Australian native succulents worth growing
Pigface (Carpobrotus species)
Pigface is the most garden-worthy of Australia's native succulents. There are six native Australian Carpobrotus species. The succulent leaves store water reserves that sustain the plant through extended drought and dry conditions including reflected urban heat and coastal salt exposure that defeats most other groundcovers. In full flower, with vivid magenta to pink blooms open across its spreading mat, it is genuinely spectacular.
The flowers attract native blue-banded bees and the fleshy fruit is eaten by silvereyes, currawongs and ravens. The fruit was also historically an important food source for Aboriginal people. Carpobrotus rossii (karkalla) is native to coastal southern and western Australia and is one of the best for stabilising sandy soil on slopes. Carpobrotus glaucescens is common along the east coast and handles both coastal and urban conditions reliably. Both spread steadily without becoming problematic. Use a slim trowel for planting individual stems into sandy or rocky positions.
Rounded noon-flower (Disphyma crassifolium)
Rounded noon-flower is closely related to pigface and shares its succulent leaf structure, but the leaves are distinctly cylindrical rather than flat. The flowers open in pink, purple or violet and close at night. It is native to coastal and near-coastal regions of southern Australia including Tasmania, tolerating salt spray, sandy soil and wind exposure. Native bees visit the flowers reliably through the flowering period and small birds take the fruit.
Jean and Fred Hort, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
It is particularly useful in coastal garden positions where pigface would also work but a slightly finer, more delicate texture is preferred. Like pigface, it spreads from stem cuttings almost effortlessly, making it easy to propagate and extend across a dry bank or rocky slope using sharp secateurs to take clean cuttings.
Native vs exotic succulents
The most important distinction to make is between native and exotic species. The South African Carpobrotus are declared environmental weeds in parts of Australia and will spread aggressively into coastal bushland. If in doubt, ask specifically for an Australian native species. The same caution applies to portulaca, where some species are native and others are introduced. See our guide to plant categories and their trade-offs for context.
Native portulaca (Portulaca species)
Portulaca oligosperma is one of several portulaca species native to Australia. Its fleshy leaves and stems store water effectively and the whole plant is edible — the leaves have a mild, slightly sour flavour. Our guide to native herbs covers more edible native species.
Thomas Mesaglio, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Portulaca cyclophylla is a more distinctly Australian species from arid regions, with unusual disc-shaped leaves that blend with the gravelly soil surface. This is a camouflage adaptation that is one of the most remarkable in the Australian flora. Both species thrive in lean, hot, dry conditions and decline rapidly in rich or wet soil. They are best established from seed rather than transplanting, which can disturb their shallow roots.
Native samphire (Tecticornia species)
The samphires (Tecticornia and Sarcocornia species) are the most dramatic succulent members of this group, with segmented cylindrical stems that are entirely fleshy and store water in their structure. They are native to salt marshes and salt pans across southern and western Australia. Their stems shift from blue-green to purplish-pink as they mature.
Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Samphire flats are listed as threatened ecological communities in parts of Australia, which reflects how important they are as habitat. They provide nesting and foraging ground for migratory shorebirds and wading birds in coastal salt marsh systems. In garden settings, samphires are fire-retardant and tolerate saline soils that would damage most other plants. They suit wet and saline positions where few other natives will establish.
Saltbush (Einadia and Rhagodia species)
The saltbush family includes several species with genuinely succulent or semi-succulent leaves — a water-storage adaptation that developed in response to saline and arid conditions. Nodding saltbush (Einadia nutans) has arrowhead-shaped semi-succulent leaves and produces bright red edible berries through summer and autumn.
Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Berry saltbush (Rhagodia spinescens) has similar berries and a more spreading habit. Both are useful dry-garden plants with genuine wildlife value as silvereyes and small honeyeaters depend on their fruit. Saltbush species also support the saltbush blue butterfly (Theclinesthes serpentata), which breeds exclusively on saltbush plants and is rarely found where they are absent.
Geoffrey Cox, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wax plant (Hoya australis)
Hoya australis is a native climbing plant found along the east coast from southern NSW to northern Queensland, growing both in soil and as an epiphyte on tree trunks and rock faces. Its glossy leaves are semi-succulent and the plant produces clusters of small, waxy, white flowers in summer that are strongly fragrant — particularly at night, when they attract moth pollinators as well as native bees during the day. It is one of very few Australian native climbers that can be grown as a houseplant.
It is slow growing but long-lived and more ecologically meaningful in an Australian garden context than the exotic hoyas commonly sold as houseplants. It suits mid-storey positions in a layered native planting, climbing through other shrubs for support. It requires good drainage and benefits from a terracotta pot if grown as a container plant, which provides the breathable growing environment it prefers.
Growing native succulents well
Australian native succulents, like most Australian natives, are adapted to low-phosphorus soil and can be harmed by fertilisers that would benefit a South African aloe or an echeveria. Avoid phosphorus-containing fertilisers entirely and resist the temptation to add compost or potting mix that has been enriched for conventional plants.
The drainage requirement is non-negotiable for most species. Pigface is the most tolerant of occasional moisture, but portulaca will rot quickly. A raised rockery, gravel garden or well-drained pot are the most reliable growing environments. Coarse gravel mulch rather than organic mulch suits most succulent natives better as it moderates temperature without holding moisture against the crown.
Establishment is easier than for most natives precisely because the water-storage strategy of succulents gives them a buffer during the first season. But a terracotta olla buried beside a new plant still helps enormously in the first summer, delivering water slowly and directly to the root zone without wetting the crown or the leaf surface.
Australia's native succulents are easy to grow, feed local wildlife, support local insects and belong to the place where they grow. They're well worth a try in your garden.
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A Guide to Australian Native Gardening
How to plan, plant and care for a thriving native garden, whatever your experience level.
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