Synonyms:

Aeonium arboreum
Sempervivum africanum
Sempervivum arboretum
Sempervivum mutabile
Sempervivum paniculatum

Habitat:

A. arboreum is a plant native to the Canary Islands.

Description:

A. arboreum “Albovariegatum” is a slow growing succulent which can grow up to 40 cm in diameter. The plant forms a rosette of bright green leaves with the edge cream colored. The woody stem can reach 1 m in height and bears the rosette. At the base of the stem is possible to find offsets, useful for propagation. Leaf tips can turn pink and curl when exposed to the sun. The edge of the leaf is serrated and the plant can be mistaken for Aeonium Sunburst, but unlike this the leaves are longer and more lanceolate. Albovariegatum like many others species of the genus Aeonium rarely blooms and the flower is sterile because this plant is nursery cultivar.

Cultivation:

This is a slow growing plant very easy to cultivate. The perfect soil is a well-drained soil that let the water to drain away and avoid root rot. For this succulent the best sun-exposure is direct sunlight, so you can place it outdoors. The minimum temperatures that the plant can withstand are 7 ° C, below this temperature it begins to suffer and going down further it no longer survives. For the watering you can water regularly in the growing season but check that the soil is completely dry before watering again. Repotting is not required, because the roots of the plant do not spread too much and the growth of the stem is poor.

Propagation:

Because Albovariegatum is a particular culitvar, in order not to lose the characteristics of the plant, propagation can only be done by cutting. By cutting you can use the offsets that grow at the base of the plant. Cut the offset as close as possible to the base of the stem and then let it 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.

Curiosity:

The plants of the genus Aeonium are very efficient in the depuration of the environment and very robust. For these characteristics they are, among the plants, studied by NASA for future use inside the spacecraft. Its name derives from the greek word aionios, which means eternal, immortal, a name that has earned both for its strength and for its affinity with the Sempervivum genus. In fact the Aeonium are plants extremely robust even for the standard of the great family of succulents; they can tolerate long periods of drought, as well as short periods of intense cold.