I believe I already suggested this is some kind of Bromeliad & referred you to that Forum (at your earlier post about this). I disagreed w/ the suggested of Aeonium, as this growth habit is all wrong for that plant.

Did you try posting same at Bromeliad Forum as I suggested?

Hi again and thank you for your suggestion. I thought I had replied; I did post in the bromeliads board and I have not had any replies. As you can see this time I added a close up of the bottom of the cup. Do you still think it's a bromeliad? I haven't had many but the bromeliads I've had always been kind of opened in the middle of the cup.

Agreed with AS, looks like a Greenovia, but I think it is lumped in with Aeonium now.

Yes, I also agree, it very much looks like a greenovia. I sent the information to the person that gave me the cutting to see if he recognizes it. Thank you both very much!

So, it certainly is a Greenovia but I wonder which one. Anyone? Or do I need to wait to see it during winter when its growing?

Hi Rachel, when I first saw your post I was fascinated, so looked up Greenovia and found these.

This one on this forum.

This one and info on World of Succulents.

Scientific Name

Aeonium aureum (C. Sm. ex Hornem.) T. Mes

Common Names

Green Rose Buds

Synonyms

Sempervivum aureum (basionym), Greenovia aurea, Greenovia ferrea, Greenovia polypharmica, Greenovia rupifraga

The leaves flush out in winter and close up in tight rounded balls in the summer months

I read that some varieties close tightly but some other just form a cup. I have 2 varieties. This one and a very tiny one that is completely closed. I can't wait to see them in winter! I read though that cutting taken during the summer never root. It would explain mine still haven't but I still hold hope.

Rachel, am i correct in noticing that your plant has finely toothed or bristly edges on its leaves? I don't want to be a trouble maker but I don't see that at all on the greenovia... for some reason your plant is making me think of agave

Nor do I see the long stem this has.

I grew Aeoniums yrs. ago & thought Greenovia look like Aeoniums & were similarly low growing, no tall stems like your plant. This also doesn't seem succulent to me, so I still stick w/ some kind of Bromeliad.

There's no toothed or bristly edges on its leaves - they are very smooth. I don't think they're agave.

Greenovia are very similar to Aeonium but the pups grow on what looks like stems and some close tightly & other form a cup in summer.

The person that gave me the cuttings confirmed that they are "mountain roses".

Hi Rachel,

Great that you got confirmation. Gorgeous pic too (his or yours?).

But see why we dislike common names? "Mountain rose" could mean 2 or 3 other plants, GGRRRR.

Hi Karen - I got the picture on the web. I chose it because it clearly shows the rosettes closed forming a cup and growing at the tip of a stem.

I agree, common names can very easily be quite confusing. In this case, it was a very small clue to help identify the plant.

Now I can only hope that my cuttings will eventually root. Crossing my fingers! :-)

Now that the greenovias growing season started, I thought I'd post an update. I shortened the stem on the plant from the original post, put in soil and now it's wide open. The other pictures show the smaller greenovia I have. Those were closed tight, forming a ball, until about a month ago when they slowly started to open.

I'm in the SF bay area too and trying greenovia again, having failed 2-3 times over the years. For me they go dormant in summer and just never really come back...wondering if they need a cold spell, or need more summer heat than I can give? Your look great!

Thanks Lisa! Those are all from cuttings I received early this past summer. Hopefully they'll survive more than 1 season. Do you keep them dry during the summer?

Hi Rachel

As far as I'm aware there were only 3 species of plant in the Greenovia genus, which have now been incorporated into the Aeoniums. These 3 plants are now correctly named Aeonium aureum, Aeonium dodrantale, and Aeonium diplocyclum.

More info and photos can be found on the ICN website.

The smaller branching plant in your second photo, I don't think is one of these 3 plants, it looks very similar to another aeonium I have which is Aenoium Haworthii, here is a photo of mine...

The larger plant in your first photo - I don't know what this is, but I don't think it's an Aeonium.

Here are some photos of my Aeonium aureum for comparison.

recent photo...

these 2 from the summer...

Hi Andrew,

Thank you very much for all the information.

Is Greenovia aizoon not also a species?

The Aenoium Haworthii, do the rosettes also close during the summer? Here is what mine looked like.

I don't think your plant is Aeonium aizoon either, its not a plant I know but looking at the description and photos on the ICN site, A. aizoon grows as a clump low to the ground without stems. Your plant looks like it probably has branching stems, not that i can see the stems in your photo. I'm just assuming that from the arrangement of the rosettes - can you confirm does the plant have branching stems?

Yes, it's a common trait for Aeoniums that the rosettes close during hot dry weather.

Hey Rachel, this is interesting! intrigued by your plants, I just did some more hunting around and found this photo on the ICN site of a variety of Aeonium diplocyclum called A. diplocyclum 'Giganteum'

This looks very much like your first plant, don't you think?

Andrew - I was asking if A. aizoon was a species of "Greenovia" out of curiosity but I didn't mean to imply that my plant was a A. aizoon.

You're correct, my plant does have branching stems. The person that gave me the cutting eventually told me that it's a "mountain rose". Are other Aeoniums dubbed that?

As for the bigger plant, I think you're spot on. I too think it's a A. diplocyclum 'Giganteum' which is why I thought it was a Greenovia.