🌱 Morphology
One of the smallest Faucarias, forming small compact clusters of almost stemless rosettes. The leaves are short, fleshy, erect, and bright greyish-green, often with reddish or purple tones at the base. They feature numerous small white dots and white margins with only 2–5 teeth, concentrated on the upper half of the leaf, a characteristic that distinguishes it from other Faucarias.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
It is a highly localized endemic of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, known from the vicinity of Riebeek-East, where it occupies a distribution area of less than 200 km². It grows in grasslands with open patches of scrub, sheltered in crevices and shallow depressions on sandstone slabs. It belongs to the Aizoaceae family. It is listed as Rare in the South African assessment.

❄️ Temperature
USDA Zone 9b–11b. It tolerates minimum temperatures down to −4 ºC in dry conditions and for short periods.

☀️ Lighting
It requires very intense lighting to keep the rosettes compact and promote coloration and flowering, with a target of >20 mol/m²/day of DLI PAR during active growth.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Summer dormancy. Growth is concentrated in the cooler months. During the active period, abundant watering is recommended, allowing the substrate to dry out completely before repeating. During summer dormancy, water supply is greatly reduced.

🌸 Flowering
It produces yellow flowers, large in relation to the tiny size of the plant. In cultivation and according to available references, flowering is concentrated between late winter and spring; in Madrid, it can occur approximately between January and March.

🌿 Nutrition
During the active growth period, a fertilizer with a high content of assimilable calcium and potassium is recommended, such as Desert CHOICE® Aizoáceas, applied during watering and avoiding excessive nitrogen inputs.

This is an inimitable xerophytic plant grown in Madrid in a high-tech square pot with substrate activated by mycorrhizal fungi.

7 × 7 cm gourmet black pot.