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Echeveria agavoides
cv. AQUAMARINE
This is a fine plant with satiny
translucent emerald-green leaves.
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Family: Crassulaceae
Scientific name: Echeveria
agavoides
Lemaire
In: Ill.
Hort. 10: Misc. 78. 1863
fCV.
AQUAMARINE
Origin:
Garden origin (Nursery
produced cultivar)
Common English Names include:
Crested
Molded Wax Agave
Etymology: The specific epithet means “agave like” and the
rosettes somewhat resembles the form of an Agave.
Synonyms:
- Cotyledon agavoides
(Lem) Baker 1869
- Urbinia agavoides
(Lem) Rose 1903
- Echeveria yuccoides
Morren 1874
- Urbinia obscura
Rose 1903
- Echeveria obscura
(Rose) A. berger 1930
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Description: Echeveria
agavoides is a stemless, star-shaped rosette of fat leaves up to 20 cm
in diameter. It is often solitary, growing offsets only slowly or not at
all. is a variable plant; some forms have reddish tips and some forms
have slightly red to very red margins. This is a relatively common
species, and quite fast for an Echeveria. It has also been widely used
in hybridizing.
Stem: Very short (almost stem less) 3-5 cm tall, 2,5-3 cm in
diameter.
Leaves: ± 20, ovate-deltoid accuminate, moderately keeled, with
rounded margin, 4-8 cm long, 3 cm wide near base, ± 5 mm thick, satiny
translucent light emerald-green that in summer tend to assume a red
colouring. Leaves are at their brightest from autumn to spring. The
leaves shows a well-marked phyllotaxis. Five curves in one direction and
eight curves in the opposite direction (Parastichy number 5-8)
Flowers: Conoid-urceolate, pinkish-red with petals tipped with
dark yellow on an inflorescence 50 cm tall. Peduncle 8-25 mm long,
Blooming season: Summer.
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Cultivation: Echeveria are
easily grown succulents that can tolerate sun, shade, moist soils, dry
soils, but look their best only when given adequate light levels and
water, and ideally should be grown outdoors in full sun. Generally
speaking, the more light a plant gets the better it will display its
colours and shape. Bright light is required to prevent "stretching" of
Echeverias ("stretching" occurs when a moderately fast growing plant
such as an Echeveria, is grown in dim light or over-fertilized, which
causes overly lush growth that contributes to weak, pallid plants).
However, when moving plants from lower light conditions into full sun,
be wary of sun scorch resulting from too rapid a transition into intense
summer sunlight, most easily avoided by ensuring plants are well-watered
before moving them on a cloudy day. Echeveria are able to tolerate
extended dry periods and survive drought without the need for watering,
but they will grow stronger if they receive adequate moisture during
their growing season, but never allowing the plant to remain waterlogged
(root rot sensitive). For this reason, it is essential in cultivation to
use a very porous soil, which will allow quick drainage. Avoid overhead
watering under humid conditions, especially during winter. Echeveria are
shallow rooted plants, and therefore benefit from good levels of organic
matter in the soil. Give it enough root space for optimum growth. Slow
release fertilisers with a low to moderate nitrogen content incorporated
into the potting mix are usually adequate for the spring and summer
growing seasons of Echeveria, and additional fertiliser applications
would not normally be required until spring. Good air movement is
important for minimising pest and disease risks, and avoiding excessive
humidity in cool winter conditions is important to successfully growing
Echeveria in the nursery environment. Can tolerate light frosts.
however, the ideal temperature range during the summer growing season is
5-25°C, with the cooler autumn temperatures tending to make their
foliage colours become more intense than those of the active summer
growing season. Aphids like this plant (and all flowering Echeverias).
Propagation: Very easy to propagate usually by
leaf propagation or division of larger clumps. If the plant is
repotted some of the bottom
leaves can be removed, in order to attempt propagation, it is also a
common practice to collect the leaves on the
flower stem. However some of the
cuttings will dry out without producing a
plantlet.
Photo of conspecific taxa,
varieties, forms and cultivars of Echeveria agavoides.
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