Adromischus cristatus, the Key Lime Pie Plant, Blooms!

My original post on the Key Lime Pie Plant, aka Adromischus cristatus, remains one of my top 3 popular blog posts. Who could have guessed?

Adromischus cristatus, MRobb

This plant is now bigger, has had multiple children, and is still going strong. This week, it bloomed next to my blue garden Buddha....

Key Lime Pie Plant and Buddha, MRobb, 2016

You can see that as the plant matures, those orange adventitious roots go nutty, and daughter plants sprout alongside the mother plant. Each leaf can start a new plant, so every once in a while, I pinch off a leaf, dip it in rooting hormone, and "throw it and grow it". Wonderful!
And here's a nice pic of a few American Fish Crows from our local Clan Munin:

American Fish Crows, MRobb, 2016

As I always like to say, they are as intelligent as chimpanzees, and as sociable as we are. Love 'em!
Have a great weekend!

Adromischus cristatus, the Key Lime Pie Plant, blooms!

Believe it or not, my original post on the Key Lime Pie Plant (Adromischus cristatus, a lovely and fuzzy African succulent) is my most popular post ever. Seriously! So I thought I should post when it bloomed, and this week, it did!

Adromischus cristatus in bloom, MR, 2014

The flowers are perched on an impossibly long stalk. Some Haworthias and aloes do that, too. They are light lavender, and sadly have no scent whatsoever. Here's a close-up:

Close-up of Adromischus cristatus flowers, MR, 2014

The Key Lime Pie Plant is one of my all time favorites. It's got crinkled, fuzzy leaves, weird bright orange aerial roots, and one strange way to flower. I love it! And I hope you do, too.

Adromischus cristatus: The Key Lime Pie Plant, Continued

Here's my Key Lime Pie Plant when it first came to my indoor garden:

A young Adromischus cristatus, photo MR

And here it is today. See if you can spot the difference....

Look at those spiky stems and all that orange stuff. I wanted to know more about the changes in my Key Lime Pie plant. So, as always, I researched.

The orange and white "hairs" are actually aerial roots. Not a heck of a lot is known about aerial roots, but they can serve several functions. Some absorb needed gases from the air, when the rest of the roots are underwater, or in waterlogged soil. Mangroves do this.

Adventitious roots on a mangrove, photo by MR.

But in the very dry Eastern Cape of South Africa, waterlogged soils are probably not even on the radar. So why all the roots? They are there to absorb water from the occasionally humid or foggy atmosphere. Roots above and below ground give greater opportunity to the plant to absorb precious water. And just looking at my plant, I can see that the tiny leaves on top of the long, rooted stems could conceivably become new plants if the stems broke off from the mother plant. Just sayin'! Neither Court nor Dortort mention that, but I'm thinking that could be useful for the plant. There's apparently a lot more room for research on the function of aerial roots. What do you think they are all about?

Random Year-End Lithops Photos, and a Key Lime Pie Plant

Not much to do after Boxing Day except clean house, and prepare oneself for work and another year that is sure to be filled with...adventures, right? Hope it's more peaceful than 2013! Here are some Lithops photos that didn't make the blog this year, but should have, if I'd known what to say about them.

Young Lithops and a Conophytum

Interestingly, one of my most popular posts is about this guy, the Key Lime Pie Plant, aka Adromischus cristatus.

Adromischus cristatus, the Key Lime Pie Plant.

And to encourage more Lithops Art, here's a final image from 2013:

Paint them, sculpt them, photograph them! Love them!
The sunrise has been extra beautiful on my sand dune lately, and I thought I would share one at the end of the year....

Have a wonderful New Year's celebration and see you all in 2014!

Key Lime Pie Plant: Adromischus cristatus

Succulent expert Fred Dortort says the Adromischus genus comprise " ...a low-key but significant portion of the South African succulent flora." (Succulent Plants of the World, pg. 52) Crassulas will take over the world, bwahhahaa...! But seriously, these are tough little plants, beautiful, and easy to grow. This one is known as the Key Lime Pie, Pie Crust, or Crinkle Leaf plant, depending on where you live. Since Key Lime Pie is our state dessert (yum!), that's its name here.



Adromischus cristatus

 The leaves are fuzzy, wedge-shaped and plump, with lovely crinkles at the end. The crinkled edges turn slightly red when it's getting enough light. A. cristatus grows bright red, adventitious roots along the stems.

It likes bright light, but too much sun and heat will cause it to bleach and wrinkle in a very sad manner. It needs to be watered when the soil dries out, and should be planted in standard succulent/cactus soil with excellent drainage. You can grow new ones from leaf cuttings.

I made a few new drainage trays for my succulent collection. They are stoneware with Ancient Jasper glaze, which seem to suit the plants well.

New trays for the Key Lime Pies! (plants, that is)