€100,70

📍  A plant highly coveted by caudex collectors. Its tuberous and rhizomatous roots eventually emerge above ground over time. 

🌱 Morphology
It looks like a small colony of stems that decided to hide its true size underground. Numerous short shoots emerge from a thick, buried tuber and spread around the plant, forming a small, compact sculpture. The most striking feature appears upon close inspection: whitish lines run along the stem between the ribs, contrasting with the green and making each branch look carefully drawn.

It is a dwarf, perennial, tuberous succulent that can develop one or several stems and spread through a mass of roots and rhizomes. The main tuber can remain completely hidden under the substrate. The stems emerge practically at ground level; they are erect or spreading, generally with 2–4 angles, about 5–9 mm in diameter, and can exceed 20 cm in length. The ribs have prominent tubercles, separated by approximately 1–3 cm, topped with shields from which pairs of fine thorns, about 2–9 mm long, emerge. The characteristic whitish longitudinal lines appear between the ribs. The leaves are lanceolate, small, about 8–15 mm long, and deciduous. It produces white latex.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
Its natural range extends from Mozambique to South Africa, including KwaZulu-Natal and the northern South African provinces. It lives in hot, dry regions, especially in scrublands and dry savanna environments, where its underground part allows it to survive prolonged periods of drought. It belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. The subspecies E. knuthii subsp. johnsonii is restricted to Mozambique.

❄️ Temperature — USDA Zone 9a–11b
It tolerates minimum temperatures of up to −6 ºC occasionally when completely dry and well acclimated. There are observations of cultivated specimens that have even withstood some snow. This resistance should not be extrapolated to humid conditions: keeping the tuber and roots dry during cold spells is especially important.

☀️ Lighting
It requires intense lighting, with an approximate goal of 18–25 mol/m²/day of DLI PAR during growth. Direct sun favors short, compact stems and makes the contrast between the green of the stems and the whitish lines more evident. Specimens grown under low radiation must be acclimated gradually.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter rest. During the active growth period, it is recommended to water abundantly and let the substrate dry out completely before the next watering. It tolerates water well during growth as long as the drainage is rapid and it never remains waterlogged around the tuber. In winter, it should be kept practically dry, especially at low temperatures.

🌸 Flowering
The cyathia appear solitarily or in small, branched cymes. They are small, approximately 2.5 × 3.5–5 mm, with greenish nectar glands. The capsules are three-lobed, about 4.5 × 6–7 mm, and can remain distant from the plant body on recurved pedicels. The flowers are yellow.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a fertilizer specific to succulents with a high content of assimilable calcium, such as Desert CHOICE® Succulents, is recommended, applied once a month when watering.

This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a high-tech square pot, with substrate activated by mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.

Black gourmet pot

M-> 14cm x 14 cm

L-> 16cm x 16 cm

* As this is an online purchase, the appearance of the sent specimen may vary slightly from the product image. The photo description specifies the measurements of the plant, but this may also vary slightly, because it is a living being! Each of the plants at Desert CITY has unique characteristics.

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