€10,60

Delosperma echinatum (Lam.) Schwantes

🔍 Morphology
 An Aizoaceae with prickles... Soft ones!... A small succulent shrub with branched growth and an open habit, that can reach about 20–25 cm in height. Its stems are cylindrical, with a progressively woody base and tender, fleshy tips. The leaves appear in opposite pairs, are short, oval, and very succulent, with a bright green color. Its most striking feature is the surface covered with small translucent bumps topped with fine white hairs, giving it a bristly appearance. Despite its prickly appearance, these structures are not rigid spines.

📍 Distribution, habitat and family
It is endemic to South Africa and is distributed throughout the Eastern Cape, from the area around Addo Elephant National Park to the southwest, to the districts of Uitenhage and Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). It grows in open spaces of scrubland and shrubby vegetation, at altitudes of approximately 150 to 860 m. It belongs to the Aizoaceae family, Ruschioideae subfamily, Ruschieae tribe. It is listed as Least Concern (LC).

🌡️ USDA ZONE 10b
It tolerates minimum temperatures close to +2 ºC. It is sensitive to frost and should be protected from the cold, especially when the substrate is moist.

☀️ Lighting
It needs plenty of light to maintain compact growth and develop robust stems. It adapts to gentle direct sunlight and very bright exposure; in summer, it is advisable to avoid the most intense sun behind glass and root overheating. During active growth, a DLI PAR above 20 moles of photons per day is recommended.

🌸 Flowering
It produces solitary, small and delicate flowers, white or pale yellow, with a yellow center. They can appear from spring to late summer, depending on growing conditions.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter dormancy. Spring to summer growth. Unlike many Aizoaceae from winter-rainfall regions, this species comes from the Eastern Cape, where rainfall occurs mainly during the warm months. In cultivation, it appreciates regular watering during the growing period, allowing the substrate to dry out between waterings. In winter, with low temperatures and reduced activity, watering is significantly reduced and waterlogging is avoided.

🚀 Nutrition
During the active growth period, Desert CHOICE® Aizoaceae NPK (Ca-Mg) 6-5-15 (3-3) is recommended, with a good supply of assimilable calcium and potassium, avoiding excess nitrogen.

📏 Gourmet black pot of 7 × 7 cm.

This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a technological square pot with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi.

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