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Cacti & Succulents

Succulent ID Help, Please? (Pics)

12 years ago

I'm hoping someone here can identify a couple of succulents I have, especially this crazy alien plant. I can't find a picture of its flowers, but they are very striking dark red and yellow stars about an inch across, and they look almost fake (the first time I saw one, I thought it was a decoration on the container it was in). The small bud will become the flower, the long pods are some kind of seed pod, I think.

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I also have these two containers that a friend gave me. They've been sitting right next to each other being neglected exactly the same way for months, but now they are two different colors. They both looked the way the darker one does now when I got them (they'd been sorely neglected then, too). I've seen this plant around, but I don't know what it's called. They need some love.

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Thanks for looking! :-)

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Comments (4)

cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
12 years ago
Hi Jenn,

The first you have is a succulent milkweed (Asclepiad) - its pollinators are usually flies hence the flowers sometimes smell like carrion. Anyway, I think it's an Stapelia, but I don't know the species. There are a lot of succulent plant genera with the Asclepiad background.

Your second pics show Aloe brevifolia (the light blue one) - the darker one is also an Aloe, but I don't know which one - maybe A. nobilis.

Nice plants - they should do well for you where you are.
penfold2
12 years ago
The first one looks like Orbea variegata. The flower description matches it too.
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It's hard to say what went wrong but you could research mesemb care for some insight. I'll provide a link below to Steven Hammer. Not all Mesembs take the same care. Lithops and Conophytum are more touchy whereas iceplant is used as groundcover along the freeway - same family. The Rhombos aren't as sensitive as some but do prefer some shade. What I'd be sending would be a whole plant, not a cutting, but they still look the same as pictured above. It's gonna be at least a year. You may see one at the nursery sooner. There are some dried up flowers on the plant in your first pic. The pods look like woody little pentagons with star shapes. You can google image rhombophyllum seed pod to see one. If you have seeds, wait til it gets warmer, maybe April/May, then sow them on top of some gritty soil and top with thin layer of horticultural sand. Keep moist with daily misting. The seedlings will need to be protected from the summer heat though. The best time is actually September but it never freezes here so you might need advice from someone who has experience with your climate. I don't have time to get into soil mixing advice but many here will be happy to share, or you can search past threads on the subject. My greenhouse is still in its first year so I'm still learning, hoping I don't screw it up. Here is a link that might be useful: Hammertime
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Chuy, I'll be dag'gon if that ain't an ocotillo, a Fouquieria splendens! :) Where did you get it? It's a native to CA and is found throughout the higher elevation desert (i.e. Anza-Borrego). They can grow fairly tall (7 feet or more, I think?), have little round green leaves (as you're starting to see on your plant) that grow along the "trunk" and branches, and in the spring produce spearheads of vibrant red flowers. They're also quite thorny. :) Here's a link for images of ocotillo plants. I don't know what the proper care is for an ocotillo, but now that you know what it is, you can look up how to care for it. :) CG Here is a link that might be useful: Fouquieria splendens (Wikipedia)
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madabouteu
12 years ago
I agree with the first answer. Rule of thumb - if the flowers really stink, it's Stapelia; if they are merely somewhat unpleasant, it's in the genus Huernia! The Aloe IDs are correct.
OffbeatJenn
Original Author
12 years ago
Ah, everyone's right about the alien plant. It looks like Orbea variegata was moved from Stapelia sometime relatively recently. Thank you all so much. I've had this plant (now several of them) for years, and for some reason never got around to posting pictures to find out what it is. It's resilient, I can tell you that! :-)

The second set of plants I believe are the same plant. The friend I got them from said they were both from cuttings from one plant. I suppose she could be mistaken, but they were identical when I got them, and she doesn't really have a large collection of succulents. I assumed the one turned green because its root to soil ratio was better so it was getting more water. When I got them they looked kind of like this picture of brevifolia. But there are so many Aloes, I'm not sure I could pick it out of a line-up, so to speak. Thanks for trying though. I'm still happy to hear ideas.) And googling plant pictures is always fun- you never know what you'll find. I'd never seen a Orbea decaisneana before. Very pretty. :-)

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