Synonyms:

Adromischus mucronatus
Cotyledon alternans
Cotyledon maculata

Habitat:

Adromischus maculatus is native to Cape Provinces where the plant grows in associated with rock outcrops on higher slopes.

Description:

Adromischus maculatus is a shrub succulent belonging to the Crassulaceae botanical family. The plant is decumbent to prostrate, forms a cluster of distinctive leaves and can reach up to 15 cm in height. The stem is short looking like a rosette and woody at the base. The leaves are obovate to oblanceolate and are tapered at the ends. The leaves are fleshy, thick, rounded, pale green covered with numerous brownish dots, rough to the touch and can have a slight groove on the upper side. The young plants are often without spots. These plant differs greatly from individual to individual in shape, color, size and habit. This succulent develops a tuberous root over time where it stores water to survive during drought periods. Blooming occurs during the summer and the buds are borne by small and long stalks. The inflorescence has many flowers and has an indeterminate central axis with many opposite lateral axes. This particular inflorescence is called thyrse and can reach up to 35 cm in height. The buds are thin, straight gradually tapered toward tips, spreading. The flowers are tubular, club-shaped, pale yellowish to greenish and the corolla is white or tinged pale pink.

Cultivation:

This is a slow growing plant, easy to cultivate. The best sun-exposure is in bright place but is recommended to avoid direct sun-light in the hottest periods. The plant does not like temperatures below 10°C so it needs to be placed indoors in the coldest periods. The perfect soil is a well-drained soil that let the water to drain away and avoid root rot. To achieve this feature, you can mix the pumice soil, clay and soil. Remember to use a perforating pot to drain excess water. Watering is very important for this species and should be done well: during the vegetative period you can water the plant (every 7 days), checking that the soil is completely dry before watering again; in winter you should stop the watering to allow the plant to enter dormancy. If you want a faster and lush growth you can fertilize the plant once a month during the growing season with the specific fertilizers for succulents; stop fertilizing throughout the winter. You should repot the plant every 2 years in a pot 2 cm wider. Repotting should be done early in the growing season with fresh new potting soil. Be careful to red spiders and mealy bugs.

Propagation:

Propagation can be done by cutting or by seed. By cutting you can make the cut during the spring and then let the cutting dry; after a few days the cut surface will dry and a callus will form, then place the cutting in a mixture of sand, soil and pumice. To increase the success of propagation you can make two or more cuttings at the same time. For cuttings it is recommended temperatures around 20 °C. By seed it is very simple to propagate the plant, it is enough to sow the seed in a sandy loam soil and keep it with a high level of humidity and at temperature of 14 C°.

Curiosity:

His name literally means “abundant rod”: it grows in clumps of fleshy leaves, which are grouped in rosettes. The genus name Adromischus was chosen by Lemaire in 1852 and it comes from the Greek “adros” (thick) and “mischos” (stem).

Official Web Site:
www.giromagi.com

Italian Blog:
www.giromagicactus.com

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