About
Saucer plant is one of the larger aeoniums, a Gran Canaria endemic that holds a glossy green rosette on an unbranched stem often more than a metre tall. Each rosette dies after it flowers.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Not recorded. We have no source on whether this plant is safe for cats, dogs or other pets — that is not the same as safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked.
- People
- Not recorded.
- Light
- Full sun to part shade.
- Water
- Water moderately while in growth. Many aeoniums go semi-dormant in very hot summers, so avoid overwatering then. General guidance for the genus
- Temperature
- Overwinter frost-free at about 6–10 °C; the RHS trial kept cold-sensitive plants at 10 °C. General guidance for the genus
- Soil
- Cactus compost when grown under glass.
- Mature size
- Stems often over 1 m tall; rosettes 20–30 cm across.
- Hardiness
- RHS H1c: frost-tender, can stand outdoors in summer in most of the UK but needs protection in winter. General guidance for the genus
“General guidance for the genus” marks advice sourced for the genus as a whole rather than this species.
Field notes
Morphology
An evergreen succulent subshrub with rosettes 20–30 cm across of bright, glossy, wavy-edged leaves, usually on a single unbranched stem over 1 m high. Unlike most aeoniums, new rosettes grow from the base rather than branching off the stem. It is monocarpic: after about five years a rosette produces a yellow flower head and that stem then dies.
Distribution & habitat
Endemic to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.
Cultivation notes
In temperate regions it can be grown under glass in a cactus compost, in full sun to part shade.
History & etymology
The epithet undulatum means 'wavy' and refers to the leaves. 'Saucer plant' is also used for other aeoniums of similar habit.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Spain
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
- Temperature
- Overwinter frost-free at about 6–10 °C; the RHS trial kept cold-sensitive plants at 10 °C.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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