Nancy, the common name is Medusa's Head.
I have one, but it's small. Think the pot is too large and needs more sun than it's getting. South and west windows, but I'm in IL. Toni

(1) Yes, but to be completely correct, it's E. caput-medusae, with the dash. It's one of the oldest plant names, having been described by Linnaeus in 1753.

(2) I like hopefulauthor's common name.

(3) It's pretty common. Certainly, it's one of the easiest to find of the medusoid Euphorbias.

(4) It's either really easy or really hard. If you have a greenhouse or other conditions where it will get a lot of sun, it's easy. If not, I don't think it's worth trying to grow this species.

-R

Nancy,

As a minor aside, the SDCSS have a medusoid/non-medusoid criteria for the Euphorbias entered into its shows, and from what I remember, there are many medusoid-type Euphorbias. IIRC, this one's from the Western Cape of the RSA, so one might deem it a winter-grower, for the most part. Note what -R said in his last line - it can be a beast to grow, but if you have those conditions, or access to them, grow away!

It's not a winter grower in the Northern Hemisphere. Cactusmcharris, I wish you would stop confusing people.

-R

I have an E. Flanaganii which is sort of similar in terms of growth habit. It got really etiolated outside. It... obviously didn't get any LESS etiolated inside for the winter. I'm thinking it might need FULL full sun, which I couldn't give it thanks to destructive horrible neighborhood children*.

Outside of looking stupid it seems to be doing alright though, so we'll see. Definitely seems like a higher-light-needing plant than any of the other Euphorbias I have. I don't know how much E. caput-medusae compares in this regard, though it seems like this might be the case for medusoids as a whole?

* I know some people on this forum are parents. Please, *don't* let your children have axe fights. I know this should be obvious, but...

-R,

I trust you left out the smiley face, and I thank you for that, but you say that as if it's a continuing problem for you?

Interesting that this winter grower from the Cape Town area grows as a summer grower for some people. While I do not have any Euphorbia, all of my plants from the Western Cape of RSA maintain their typical winter growing habit here in the Northern Hemisphere......true for all my Gethyllis, Boophane, Brunsvigia, etc. that are from the winter rainfall area. -R do you have any idea why this one apparently switches under your growing conditions? Desert-Tropicals indicates this as a winter grower as would be expected given its origin and of course in RSA it is a winter grower.

Axe fights.....something I can honestly say the neighbor kids have never done :o) Dan

Thanks, everyone, for the information. I have a small greenhouse (I use the term loosely) to put plants in during summer, but I bring them all in for winter, so I'm still on the fence as to whether or not to get one. My interest was piqued by an old book I have that shows one growing in a pot shaped like a woman's head, thus giving the planting a very awesome Medusa look.

Nancy

Nancy,

I think I see where you're headed with that.
{{gwi:497050}}

Don't look her in the eye! :)

Nancy

I probably confused what "winter growers" means, in terms of plants from the Southern Hemisphere, and especially the varied climate of RSA.

I've never found any Euphorbia, from Africa, Asia, or Mexico/South America, that won't switch its growing seasons, and grow in summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

That's in contrast with some plants (like Tylecodon sp. and some South African mesembs) that absolutely refuse to make the switch, and will only grow in winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

-R

that's odd... in all I have read about Tylecodons in South Africa and Namibia, they are winter growers there, too (leaf out in winter... which is June through August there), just as they do here in our winter (December- February). What mesembs do not make the switch?

Lots of them, like Ophthalmophyllum (now Conophytum), Monilaria, Mitrophyllum, Meyerophytum, Gibbaeum, and more. My guess (and it's just that) is that all of the ones that don't use CAM photosynthesis never make the switch.

Ophthalmophyllum longitubum in October: {{gwi:497052}}

Gibbaeum pilosulum in December:

{{gwi:497054}}

Cheers,
-R

Cactus..is that beauty of a plant in your garden?
OMG, your Caput Medusae is most beatufiul! Love the statue/head.
I first saw a similar picture, in C&S Orthos book. A Medusa Head, and E. caput; your plant should have been in its place..there's no comparison..I love it.

I had no idea there were various E. caput medusaes. Maybe that's the reason my caput has short stems. I prefer longer, like yours. Beautiful!

Land, I didn't coin the name, Medusa Head..lol..It's been around many many years.

Land, never heard nor saw a Gibbaeum. What a cute plant! How tall/wide do they get? Toni

Toni,

There aren't but one E. c.-m. species (although there may be many varieties), but there are many medusoid Euphorbia species.

Not my plant - I think it's an Astroloba growing out of it. That's Desert Gardener's nice arrangement.

And there are lots and lots of genera in the Mesembryanthemum plant family. -R's lovely photographs show much of the appeal of them.

plant in photo looks like a Euphorbia, but certainly not caput-medusae. Looks more like E groenewaldii, a great and nearly equally easy species to grow (though it does not get as massive as E caput-medusae. See below four photos of Euphorbia caput-medusae

{{gwi:497056}}

Here is one growing in a garden in southern California

{{gwi:497058}}

Here is another creeping over a wall in Los Angeles

{{gwi:497061}}

and lastly an out of control older plant in the Huntington Gardens

{{gwi:497064}}

by the way, I looked up Mesembs in Steven Hammer's 'Mastering the art of growing Mesembs' and according to him, and other mesemb enthusiast I know, there are NO mesembs that grow in winter on one pole and summer on the other... no plant can know which end of the globe it is on, and though plants moved from one end of the globe to the other may be 'temporarily confused' it is a very temporary condition, not lasting even a year, and all such plants revert solely to seasonal/environmental influences (day length, temperature, humidity etc.). There is no 'global' recognition in plants. I even talked to someonein South Africa to ask when their Conophytums were blooming and growing, and she said they bloom in fall and grow in winter... just like they do here (only 6 months difference). Same for the related genera Ophthalmophyllum, though they tend to be on a schedule more similar to a Lithops, often blooming in early fall and even late summers (but same as in South Africa.. .again 6 months difference).

Lzrddr, VERY awesome photos, thanks for sharing. I may indeed have to buy one. Now, if I could only find a head pot that doesn't cost an arm and a leg! :)

Nancy

Geoff,

I too wanted to compliment you on the plants you've shown pics of - TFS these outstanding specimens.

Cactus..thanks..Guess one has to hunt for the right plant.

Lz...beautiful sux..green, vibrant.

Nancy, don't know if this is what you're looking for, but bought this planter at Secret Gardens for 12.00.

{{gwi:109393}}

Price might have increased..got this head 6-7 yrs ago, but last time I checked, he still had them. Toni

Toni, what/where is this place? I am definitely intrigued!

Nancy

Nancy, the name of the nursery is secretgardenrareplants. He also sells on Ebay..don't know if I should name names though. I'll see if I can find a link.

http://www.secretgardenrareplants.com/catalog.cfm?category_id=6

Nancy, the price is now 9.95 plus shipping. Toni

Thanks Toni! :)

>there are NO mesembs that grow in winter on one pole and summer on the other...

Wrong.

>plants moved from one end of the globe to the other may be 'temporarily confused' it is a very temporary condition, not lasting even a year,

So wrong!

Okay, let me put this is the simplest possible terms:

Many plants grow in summer in the Southern Hemisphere (which is winter in the Northern Hemisphere). When grown in the Northern Hemisphere, many adapt and grow in summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Some plants grow in winter in the Southern Hemisphere (which is summer in the Northern Hemisphere). When grown in the Northern Hemisphere, many don't have to adapt, and grow in summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Some species that grow in winter in the Southern Hemisphere (which is summer in the Northern Hemisphere) don't adapt, and only grow in WINTER in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sheesh.

Lzrddr, you might try growing some mesembs, instead of just reading about them.

Thx,

-R

-R,

I fear your basic premise is dreadfully wrong - plants do make the switch. I also fear your talking smack makes your argument weaker than it already is. Please cease and desist on this and return to your normal programming of nice pictures and sometimes-caustic commentary. We do like you, though you make it difficult sometimes to do so. Lzddr has consulted some of the greatest minds in Succulentia (one of whom is Steven Hammer, who does indeed grow the Mesembs - all of them, or nearly so, and has botanized many of the Mesemb habitats in the RSA); they would say your argument holds no water, so to speak.

But I do remain still part of your fan club. Please come off of the hillock of thinking-I'm-right (I'm a frequent visitor there myself) and rejoin the rest of us. It's nothing personal, it's just business.

Dear 'R'. This is a response to your stand on this subject after I asked about it on the Xericworld.com site which is trolled by some extremely experienced and true experts in many areas of growing succulents. This responder is a long time grower and even importer of Mesembs from South Africa and he certainly does not seem to share your view:

This person's apparent claim is mostly rubbish. Transposed plants may be confused at first, but this doesn't last.

From the first section of Steven Hammer's "The New Mastering the Art of Growing Mesembs":

"Mesembs have an annual cycle which varies little from year to year. The sequence is genetically fixed; it does not go haywire when plants are brought from the southern to the northern hemisphere, though such plants are temporarily confused. Captive mesembs have no memory of, or loyalty to, the month in which they or their parents flowered. They are loyal only to day-length and should match the growing pattern of their forebears, but at half a year's distance. In a given horticultural ambience, many plants even flower on the same date year after year and go dormant at the same point."

The New Mastering the Art of Growing Mesembs by Steven Hammer

In addition, I have first hand experience that clearly demonstrates otherwise; with 'winter-growing' mesembs, Crassula and Adromischus cuttings obtained from South Africa. For example, I took Crassula cuttings from SA during their late winter/early spring and brought them back to the northern hemisphere just before its autumn. Instead of carrying on with dormancy, all transposed cuttings undertook active growth some six weeks later with the onset of fall.

The term 'winter growing' is a bit misleading as well, especially when speaking of Conophytums. They tend to undergo most visual growth from late summer through autumn, as the leaf pairs formed during the previous winter's growing cycle fill-out and flowering occurs. Generally, this is when these plants are thirstiest. Once winter actually arrives and the plants already begin detecting longer days, the visual leaf pairs are already on the decline, and the plant's requirement for addition resources lessens. New leaf pairs develop, concealed beneath the old ones during this time, while resources are being mobilized from the old. So, in a sense, they are in active growth during winter, but this growth is somewhat clandestine ( revealed next season)... and the net requirement for outside resources is less than when the plants were responding to shortening days.

With some exceptions, there is a spectrum of timing within the genus conophytum and relative to it's close relative Opthalmophyllum; the latter is most active earlier in the season, and can closely mirror the behavior of Lithops, while many diminutive species of Conophytum, such as those in Section Miniscula wake up later in Fall... when there is a greater guarantee that the smaller (more delicate) leaf pairs will be exposed to cooler, moist weather.

Matt

Nancy, you're welcome..Are you going to get one?

To everyone and anyone who has an answer. I once read the plant Aeonium is a winter grower and goes dormant during summer.

Years ago, every so often I'd buy an Aeonium, but it died. After reading the summer/dormancy article, I assumed they died because I fertilized in summer, and treated as a dormant plant in winter. In other words, the opposite care the article said.

Does anyone know if this is true? Do Aeoniums go dormant in our summers?

Also, let's say 'X' plant, living in its native habitat goes dormant in 'X' country summer, our winter. If 'X' plant is brought to USA, would they too go dormant, 'because of our climate/light, etc?' or does it not matter?
Would 'X' plant behave to our conditions?
Didn't mean to change the plant, but since this topic is being discussed, thought I'd ask..Toni

Aeoniums are adventitious growers, Toni, but by and large they do go dormant in summer. That said, they often grew in San Diego, although at a reduced rate, and that was only some of them. Aeonium smithii was one one never watered in the summer, but other than that, if the summer was cool enough (but not too cool) and they were in some shade, without gross humidity, most species would grow, though not as well as they do now.

'X' (and of course we're talking probably a plant from the Western Cape or the Richtersveldt, a winter-rainfall area in the Republic of South Africa/Namibia) plant would behave according to its genetic code. Regardless of whether Christmas is in summer or winter, if it's supposed to be growing on Christmas it will make the adjustment to be growing then - it may take a season. You didn't change the topic, because that is what's being batted back and forth, that succulent shuttlecock of a question.

@ Mesembs: Please stop talking about these because it just reminds me of my constant failure to actually grow them under any conditions :(

Cactus, the two Aeoniums were, A arboreum 'atropurpureum,' and A. Sunburst. 'Sorry, don't know its botanical name.'

Our summers are usually hot and humid. Last year, we had 3 months at 90-100F degrees, and super high humidity. 90-99%.

Guess I better pass up Aeoniums, right?

Ironically, I was able to keep both Aeoniums three years in a row, read the article..changed care, 'according to the article,' and they both died..lol..
Maybe it's best to Let It Be, like Paul M suggests. :)

There are 3-4 online succulent nurseries I planned on odering from, weather permitting. I'll pass on the Aeon's, and replace with other sux. Too bad, they're such beautys.

One more thing. I believe adventitious means accidental?? If this definition is correct, what's accidental about Aeons? lol. Toni

Hey, Toni!
'Adventitious,' in this case, means that a plant will make the best of the conditions
that come to it. Adventitious is from the roots Ad+venire = "to arrive."

If I'm wrong on this, someone please correct me!

Josh

I think y'all probably mean "opportunistic" and not "adventitious," which is usually used to describe roots.

cactusmcharrus & lzrddr, do you mean to say that all plants from the Southern Hemisphere will switch their growing season when in the Northern Hemisphere?

I hope not, because that's wrong. Do a search on "winter-growing mesembs" and you'll find many articles, for example: http://www.centralarizonacactus.org/plantinfo/plants/WINTERGROWING%20MESEMBS%20THROUGH%20THE%20YEAR.pdf

Steven Brack of Mesa Garden even has a separate culture code for winter-growing mesembs:

"Cultivation codes for mesembs and some other succulents: ...
C-grows in the fall and winter when cool with short days. They like frequent light waterings and lots of mist, most come from regions with fog appearing at night. They go dormant in late spring when hot conditions arrive. During the heat of summer often shade is very helpful. Very little water given all summer long. (50-65F, 10-18C)"

Note that he's in the Northern Hemisphere.

I don't know why this is any way controversial. This is common knowledge..some plants that grow in winter in the Southern Hemisphere don't make the shift, and only grow in winter in the Northern Hemisphere. My experiences with Ophthalmophyllum, Monilaria, Mitrophyllum, Meyerophytum, and Gibbaeum confirm this.

Lzeddr, your experiences with Crassula and Adromischus aren't useful to this discussion, since they aren't mesembs.

-R

-R,

You're quite right - I should have used 'opportunistic' rather than that other word, which of course has to do with the roots many Crassulaceae put out.

But I'm not making myself understood by y'all (thank you for your use of this underused word, btw).

In response to your second paragraph, no, not at all. My premise is simply this - if a plant grows in the winter in South Africa, it will grow in the winter in North America.

You're basing your argument on Mesembs, but it's by no means limited to just that Family. You could use Aloe dichotoma as an example. Whether it's a Cono, Aloe, Tylecodon, etc. if it comes from the winter-rainfall areas of the RSA/Namibia, that's usually an indicator that it does most of its growing, by and large, in the winter. Given that, it will grow in the winter, given average growing conditions, whether it's December in Vancouver, BC or July at the Orange River. The plant will make the switch to its growing time where it is, but it's programmed to growing certain external conditions are met - rain, short daylight hours, cooler temps at day and night, and so on.

They don't switch their growing seasons - they switch the months which they grow in.

Now, having learned from x and others that many so-called only-winter-growers can actually do a cultural modification and grow some in other supposedly-dormant seasons, I'm still learning.

You cite an excellent source, but your interpretation of that information is topsy-turvy. If you read your 7th paragraph, you're agreeing with us - '..some plants that grow in winter in the Southern Hemisphere don't make the shift, and only grow in winter in the Northern Hemisphere' - that's it exactly - they're winter-growers no matter where they are, even though your we're-almost-there! sentence is almost negated by your belief of the plants not making the shift.

-R, they do so make the shift, but it's not going to bother me a great deal if you don't accept it. I myself am still looking for the pot o' gold at the end of every rainbow I can hug.

I think almost all of our disagreements are rooted (so to speak!) in imprecise language. Even a seemingly-clear statement like "if a plant grows in the winter in South Africa, it will grow in the winter in North America" can mean a lot of things.

I will just say that of the plants that grow in the winter rainfall areas of the Western Cape, all the Euphorbias that I know grow happily in summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but IME some mesembs don't. Can we leave it at that?

Anyhoo, here is Sceletium joubertii, happy to shed its winter (or is it?!?) dormancy, flowering today:

{{gwi:497068}}

{{gwi:497070}}

{{gwi:497074}}

Cheers,
-R

-R,

OK, we can, but if our discussions yield more such flower pictures, I shall be forced to engage once again in spirited debate. It's predicted to be below freezing for the whole week, so I need all of the help I can get.

Is that a recently-described species? I know there are many Mesembs I don't know about, but that's a new one to me. Nice airy flower it has.

Sceletium joubertii was first described in 1984.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sceletium joubertii

I have that-bought it in a terra cotta head too, many years ago that lasted until knocked over. Now its in a large tub planter and does ok for the bay area. Cats tend to break off peices that trail too long.

Toni, want the pot, but debating when to get it...now, in case they're discontinued or later, when I actually may get the plant. :)

Do you go to the cactus/succulent sale at the Chicago Botanical Gardens? Found out about/went for the first time last year. A good way to get plants cheaply and not pay for shipping!

Nancy