Prostrata

'Prostrata' is the original prostrate natal plum and, with the closely related 'Horizontalis' (sold in South Africa as Natal creeper), the selection that opened up the whole groundcover market for this species. Both are named in Fruits of Warm Climates as the low-growing cultivars suited to ground cover use, and 'Prostrata' still appears in university plant databases and professional landscape catalogues as one of the five most popular clones alongside 'Green Carpet', 'Tuttle', 'Boxwood Beauty' and 'Tomlinson'. It grows outward rather than upward, throwing long trailing stems that knit into a spiny evergreen mat, and it retains the species' forked spines, so it works as a living barrier over banks and slopes as well as decorative cover. Like the other dwarfs it still flowers and fruits, giving an edible return from a plant chosen primarily for erosion control.