Synonyms:

No synonyms are recorded for this species name.

Habitat:

Aeonium “Medusa” is a nursery cultivar, probably a variegation od another nursery cultivar from Holland called Aeonium “Velour”, and thus it doesn’t exist in nature.

Description:

Aeonium “Medusa” is one of the most beautiful cultivars of Aeonium on the market: it is extremely sought after mainly because of its glowing, scarlet red foliage, but also for its resilience to any adversity, that makes it incredibly easy to grow. It is a rosette-forming cultivar, that usually occupies all the available space of the pot with rosettes full of tongue-shaped, big leaves. The basal leaves are usually darker and longer, while the central ones are instead shorter, less intense in colour, curved upwards. Their edge is adorned with microscopic white hairs and the top of the leaves is pointed. The most striking feature, though, is undoubtely their colour: an intense scarlet red, it becomes even more strong in Summer while, as Winter approaches, the outer edge turns creamy-white. All leaves possue a central, darker stripe, which is dull-red to blackish in the outer, more intensely coloured ones and bright green in the central, greenish others. The variegation stays incredibly strong in this cultivar.

Cultivation:

Aeonium “Medusa” is quite easy to cultivate. Here below are our cultivation tips:

To mantain the brightness of the colour of the leaves, Aeonium “Medusa” needs to be placed in a bright spot, for example a sunny window shelf, but away from direct sunlight at least during the hottest hours of Summer days.
The minimum temperature for its survival is 7ºC. We advice to put it indoors in winter. Anyway, this Aeonium is the perfect decorative houseplant, and it will be obvious to you to place it indoors right away.
The soil should be well-drained, because the plant doesn’t bear stagnant water, nore any lack of oxygen. Frequent problems are the changing of the colour of the leaves, which turn green because of a too intense light, or the roll of the entire leaves cluster, which occurs generally because of the lack of water.
Watering necessities are moderate: in Spring and Summer, you might water it once a week while, in Winter, you should stop completely to water or, at least, reduce the watering frequency to once every two-three weeks, always waiting for the soil to dry up completely before each irrigation.
Aeonium “Medusa” doesn’t need frequent fertilizations, it is sufficient to dilute the fertilizer with watering once a year.
Repotting could be necessary once a year. By the way, repot anytime you see that the plant is outgrowing its pot. 

Propagation:

The propagation of A. “Medusa” is done using leaf cuttings. The cut surface has to be dry when the stem cutting is planted. Another way to propagate it is to separate the root suckers from the plant. They form a new plant. Seeds can’t be used, as it is a hybrid and won’t produce fertile seedlings.

Curiosity:

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. The name “Aeonium” comes indeed from the greek word aiònios, meaning “immortal”: these plants are perfect for beginners approaching the world of gardening! The name “Medusa” probably comes from the locks of the Greek mythical Medusa, who had her hair turned in to snakes as a punishment by the gods.

Official Web Site:
www.giromagi.com

Italian Blog:
www.giromagicactus.com

Tips:
Read our advice