Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Identifying a Succulent

Last November at the Creswick Garden Lovers weekend,we bought an unusual succulent at the plant sale. Although it has a label in it, the label is blank - whether worn off or never written on, I can't know. The lady selling the plants didn't know what it was. Google searches hadn't given me any clues. But last night I found out what it is.

Front view -
These leaves have only just grown - the ones it had when we bought it all shrivelled up soon after.

Side view -
You can see the thick succulent stem better from this angle. The plant is obviously getting too much light from only one direction - I need to turn it around regularly, or move it into a well-lit area.

Last night the guest speaker at the Ballarat Horticultural Society was an expert on cacti and succulents, so I took this mystery plant along. (That's how some of the leaf stems got broken.) He identified it easily as a member of the Senecio family. With that information I was able to find it easily once I got home - Senecio articulatus. And then be reassured that it is normal for it to lose its leaves over summer and grow new ones in autumn.

1 comment:

Jeann of Melton said...

Oh boy! I was worried it was going to be something 'illegal'!!!