String of Bananas
Curio radicans · String of Fishhooks
It creeps across dry, sun-baked rock and karoo scrub in southern Africa, a ground-hugging succulent that roots wherever a stem touches the soil. Each leaf is a fat, curved banana that stores water, striped with a clear window that pipes light inside.
Family
Asteraceae
Origin
Southern Africa
In the wild
Dry karoo scrub
Indoors
Trails 0.3–0.9 m
Growth
Fast
With pets
Toxic
Where it's from
South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho
Karoo dryland
It establishes under rock ledges and shrubs, then trails along the ground and roots as it goes.
Outdoors: zones 10–11
Frost-tender. It is damaged below freezing and grows outdoors only in dry, frost-free climates.
Least Concern
Common and widespread across the Karoo, with no documented threats.
Survival, leaf by leaf
The fat, curved leaf stores water against the dry karoo air, while a thin clear stripe, a leaf window, channels sunlight into the leaf so it can photosynthesise on the inside. The species name radicans means taking root, because the stems root wherever they touch soil.
Built-in light pipes
The clear window on each leaf boosts the photosynthetic area inside the thick succulent flesh.
It blushes in the sun
Push it into bright sun and the green strands flush red and purple.
Self-layering
Coil a strand back onto the pot and it roots, so you can thicken a sparse plant for free.
How to keep it
LightBright, indirect
Some direct sun is fine. Intense sun plus high heat scorches and reddens the leaves.
WaterWhen top half is dry
Let it dry between waterings. Soggy soil causes root rot. Water sparingly in winter.
HumidityDry air is fineA dry-air succulent. No misting needed.
TemperatureWarm, above 10°CFrost-tender. Damaged below freezing, so keep it warm indoors.
SoilGritty cactus mixCoarse or sandy, with excellent drainage. Never water-retaining.
FeedingLight, in growing seasonA dilute succulent feed during the growing months only.
DifficultyEasyVigorous and fast, noticeably quicker than String of Pearls.
With petsToxicPyrrolizidine alkaloids. Vomiting, diarrhoea and lethargy, with liver damage on chronic exposure.
PropagationStem cuttingsLay a tip on gritty mix and it roots where the stem meets soil. Quick and easy.
RepottingInfrequentShallow-rooted and content snug. Refresh by propagating when strands thin.
What the data says
What it costs
A mass-propagated beginner staple. The variegated form is the only one that costs more.
$8–20
The cream-streaked variegated form runs roughly $20–40 and up, but it never reached the variegated-Monstera extremes.
The air-purifier myth
It gets swept onto air-purifying lists that trace back to a sealed NASA chamber in 1989.
100–1,000
plants would be needed to match what a room's normal ventilation already moves (Cummings and Waring, 2019). Buy it for the bananas, not for cleaner air.
IUCN · Least Concern
In the wild
Abundant in the wild and ubiquitous in cultivation, with no pressure from the houseplant trade.
South Africa's national Red List rates it Least Concern: common, widespread and unthreatened. The shelves are supplied by cuttings, not wild collection, so the trade does not pressure the wild population.
When it sulks
Mushy stemsOverwatering and soggy soil. The number one killer.
Shrivelled, soft leavesUnderwatering, or confusingly overwatering. Check the roots.
Browning, reddish leavesSunburn from too much direct sun and heat.
Bald, leggy strandsLow light or age. Propagate to renew.
PestsAphids, mealybugs, scale and spider mites.
Varieties & company
The varieties
Plain greenVariegated
Pairs with · keep apart from
String of PearlsJadeEcheveriaCalatheaFernsPeace Lily
A new plant, every week.
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