Aeonium 'Bronze medal'
€7,95
🌿 Morphology: Small, compact, and highly branched succulent shrub with relatively slow growth. It forms short, somewhat twisted, and progressively woody stems, topped by small, very geometric rosettes approximately 3–7 cm in diameter. The leaves are fleshy, narrow, and pointed, with finely ciliate margins. The foliage appears green with reddish markings and develops spectacular bronze, coppery, and burgundy tones with high light and during summer. It can reach about 40–45 cm in height and form a clump up to about 60 cm in width.
🧬 Botanical Origin: Family Crassulaceae. It is a horticultural hybrid of American origin, introduced by Huntington Botanical Gardens in 2002. Its complete genealogy is unknown, but the shape of the small rosettes, sticky leaves with reddish markings, and its compact habit indicate that Aeonium sedifolium is very likely one of its parents. A. goochiae or even A. × occidentale have been proposed as possible second parents, but this is not confirmed.
🌎 Distribution and Habitat
It does not have its own natural distribution as it is a cultivated hybrid. Its probable parent A. sedifolium is a Macaronesian species. Therefore, it should not be described simply as a species originating from the Canary Islands.
❄️ USDA and Temperature
USDA approximately 9b–11b. We recommend keeping it above 5 °C, especially with high ambient humidity or wet substrate. It can tolerate brief drops close to 0 °C if it remains dry, but it is not advisable to expose it to frost. The RHS classifies it as tolerant to low temperatures, but not to freezing.
☀️ Lighting — DLI
During growth: 15–25 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ of PAR. Intense lighting is essential for developing the characteristic bronze coloration. It tolerates a good amount of sun once acclimated, although in the Mediterranean summer it is advisable to avoid abrupt changes from a shaded situation to intense sun.
💧 Cycle and Watering
It exhibits growth mainly during the cool seasons and a summer dormancy, although it is less deep than in other Aeonium. Water thoroughly and allow the substrate to dry completely before the next watering. During the summer, reduce the frequency, but it is not necessary to keep it completely dry if temperatures are not extreme. Huntington itself notes that its dormancy is not so intense that summer watering and fertilizing are necessarily detrimental.
🌸 Flowering
It produces inflorescences with small pale yellow flowers, generally during spring. As in other Aeonium, the rosette that flowers is monocarpic, but the numerous branches allow the plant to survive and continue to develop.
🌱 Nutrition
During active growth, use Desert CHOICE Succulents at a moderate and regular dose. It can also receive light nutrition during its summer dormancy if cultivation conditions maintain some activity, but reduce it significantly with intense heat or stopped growth.
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