– Adromischus herrei (2016)

By Ann Tansey (May 2016)

Adromischus herrei is a succulent from South Africa (Little Namaqualand) that has a thick rootstock. It has oval-shaped leaves that are dimpled. This species varies in leaf texture color and can be red-brown or green, for example.

A. herrei is a small succulent shrub that is slow-growing. It grows up to 10 centimeters tall, and is in the Crassulaceae family (Stonecrop).

This succulent is worth collecting. I bought my plant from Woody Minnich in August 2015 on a visit to Sante Fe. The interesting shape and texture of the leaves attracted me to this plant, and it has become one of my favorites.

I grow A. herrei in my sun room, which gets southern exposure. I water it once a week all year. In the winter, I give it less water. I have a heater programmed to maintain the temperature in the sun room no lower than 50 degrees, although A. herrei can grow at a minimum 40 degrees. During the growing season, I use a diluted cactus fertilizer with each watering – Schultz 2-7-7 Cactus Plus.

Synonyms for this plant are:

A. var. immaculatum, 1953
A. marianae var. antidoradum, 1938
Cotyledon herrei, 1931

The flowers on A. herrei are quite small, measuring about one-half inch in length, and are green with a pinkish-red tinge. They are not showy flowers, and growers cut off the developing flower stems to avoid botrytis, a type of fungus. My plant has not yet flowered.

Sources:
Succulent Plant Page – http://www.succulent-plant.com/families/crassulaceae/adromischus.html
Cactus-Art.biz – http://www.cactus-art. biz/schede/ADROMISCHUS/Adromiscus_herrei/Adrom ischus_herrei/Adromischus_herrei.htm