Synonyms:

Cotyledon pulvinata

Habitat:

Echeveria pulvinata is a small succulent plant native to central America, Mexico, in particular from the south-western area of the country.

Description:

Echeveria pulvinata is a small plant that doesn’t exceed 25-30 centimeters in height. Like all Echeverias, it consists in a bunch of stems, wooden at their base and fleshy in their apical part, which end in 15 centimeters wide rosettes of succulent leaves. The rosettes are abundant and have a remarkable decorative potential, especially in this species, in which they show club-shaped, softly hairy leaves that look like something between rabbits ears and tongues, bluish-green in colour, with a reddish hint at their tip that is enhanced by exposure to direct sunlight. Their peculiar hair, soft and pleasant to touch, covering entirely leaves and young stems, is probably an evolutionary device to reduce water loss through evapotranspiration from leaves surface. Basal leaves, instead, are more yellowish and easily tend to detach, forming natural leaves cuttings when they touch the soil. In Spring, the blooming period approaches and E. pulvinata produces an elongatetd stalk bearing small, succulent leaves and numerous star-shaped, orange-reddish flowers.

Cultivation:

Echeverias are native to warm climates, in harsh environments such as the highlands of Mexico and some regions of South America. That’s the reason why they are very tough and suited to be grown in poor, rocky soils. However, in our latitudes, we especially recommend the growing in pots, which allows you to place the plants in the shelter when temperatures are rigid. Here below are our cultivation tips:

Allow the plant to receive direct sunlight all year round: it is better either for the health of the plant, and because it enhances the beautiful red tinges of its leaves
Echeveria pulvinata can’t stand temperatures below 10-11 ° C. We thus recommend to grow this succulent in a pots in order to place it indoors during the winter, or at least to shelter it. Also, to keep it indoors it’s the best way to exploit its decorative potential: it is the perfect plant to decorate your living room or your office!
Water abundantly in summer, around once or twice a week. In autumn, reduce watering frequency until stopping completely to water in Winter, unless leaves shrivel: in that case, add a little water though it’s winter. But there must not be stagnant water in the rosette: therefore, we advice to apply the water directly on the ground avoiding to wet the leavaes. If you can not achieve this effect with a watering can, try to immerse the pot in water. Wait always for the soil to dry up completely before each waterin.
Fertilization can be carried out once a year, during spring or summer using half the doses recommended in the label of a specific product for succulents.
Choose a well-draining substrate, better if rich in aggregates.
Repot every year, in early spring, as E. pulvinata is a fast-growing plant.

Propagation:

The propagation of E. pulvinata can be carried out either by seed or by cuttings. We recommend, however, to use the leaf cuttings or the offset, namely, the small rosettes or branches sprouting laterally, because they root really easy. Cuttings can be planted in a pot directly exposed to sunlight, at a temperature around 20ºC.

Curiosity:

The genus name “Echeveria” comes from a mexican painter called “Attanasio Echeverria”, who was also a botanist and was famous for its paintings of plants.

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