Hi! Could you help me identify this
Cotyledon sp.? Is it just another form of
C. orbiculata?
I bought it from a big-box store a couple years ago, probably distributed by Altman's. I believe it was identified merely as
Succulent sp. When I first picked it up (being even less experienced back then), I mistook it for a
Senecio sp. I have grown and divided the original 3" plant into three sizable 8" plants. (In the picture, they look a little leggy and haggard after blooming. I plan to take cuttings and propagate them on).
Thin, finger-shaped leaves are light green and resemble home-grown string beans, but circular in cross-section. They are matte and mildly glaucous -- not as waxy-powdery as some
C. orbiculata (pig's ear, esp. var. "powdered sugar"), but not nude-glossy green like typical
var macrantha.
Stems show typical
Cotyledon bumps from old leaves (these plants also seem to show a rust-colored reaction to some pest... help?).
New leaves start as tiny, dark-pink tongues -- also typical of
Cotyledon (cf
C. orbiculata).
Flowers look the same as
Cotyledon orbiculata (to my hobby-grower eyes): orangish-red bells from a tall stalk (2' stalk on an 8" plant). I grow at least 5 forms of
Cotyledon orbiculata, and this plant flowered around the same time.
The pleasure of the plant is the slightly irregular surface of the green "fingers" -- not smooth like
Senecio madraliscae "blue chalk fingers". These chunky leaves pile up into improvised formations, on some days resembling a Balinese statue with dozens of arms.
Not to mention the ease of culture and propagation. And the apparent "convergent evolution" of morphotype with
Dudleya hassei,
Senecio madraliscae, and countless
Mesembryanthemaceae -- just to name a few.
Also the flowers attract hummingbirds.
--DCE
sentientmeat.net
Attached photo is compressed for XericWorld.com. For full resolution at Flickr, click here.