There are three species in the genus Portulacaria in Southern Africa, the other two being P. pygmaeum, a dwarf species, and the well -known P. afra or Spekboom. P. armiana was discovered only around 1984 and was named after A R Mitchell, a very keen student of the genus Conophytum (C. armianum was also named for him). It is a shrub, about 70 cm high, amazingly, the inflorescens can be up to eight (!) meters high. The species occurs only in desert conditions on both sides of the Orange River in Namibia and South Africa.