Smelly Plant of the Month: Senecio kleiniiformis



Senecio kleiniiformis

Senecio is a huge genus, but there aren't too many succulents to be found there. I have an S. serpens, whose white blossoms smell exactly like stinky gym feet. Yuck.

But this Senecio is different. S. kleiniiformis, also from Southern Africa, has bright yellow blossoms the same shape and size as S. serpens. But they smell...good! A beautiful perfume of honey-lemon wafts from these all day. It reminds me of the honey-lemon drops people suck on during the winter to keep the flu away. Since we're having an awful influenza season, and an early one, S. kleiniiformis seems like a good plant to be growing on the windowsill. It's a tough and hardy plant that likes full to filtered sun, waterings when its soil dries out, and lots of admiring humans to smell its flowers.