€37,10

🌱 Morphology
A small, 'scented' jewel of the stapeliads that seems designed to go unnoticed until it blooms. Its fleshy, leafless stems spread along the ground, forming small, dense cushions. They are short, with a quadrangular or pentagonal cross-section, and covered with tubercles that functionally replace leaves. The plant barely reaches 2–5 cm in height, but can form colonies that are considerably wider than they are tall.

🌍 Distribution, habitat and family
It is a species native to the Cape provinces of South Africa, associated with dry environments and inland shrublands. It belongs to Apocynaceae, subfamily Asclepiadoideae, the group traditionally treated as the Asclepiadaceae family, which includes the well-known stapeliads. Piaranthus geminatus exhibits notable variability and a long history of nomenclatural changes; its synonyms include Stapelia geminata, Caralluma geminata, and Obesia geminata.

❄️ Temperature — USDA Zone 10a–11b
It tolerates minimum temperatures of down to −1.1 ºC in dry, well-acclimated specimens, although for safe cultivation it is advisable to prevent it from remaining damp when temperatures are low. During winter, it requires plenty of light and a practically dry substrate.

☀️ Lighting
It needs plenty of light to maintain compact stems and encourage flowering, but in its habitat, it usually grows protected among shrubs, so it does not need to be subjected to intense sun all day long. Abundant, filtered light, with an approximate goal of 15–20 mol/m²/day of DLI PAR, is suitable. Direct sun during the central hours of the day can cause burns if the plant is not acclimated.

💧 Growth cycle and watering
Winter dormancy. Growth is mainly concentrated in spring and autumn, while extreme summer temperatures can slow it down, and activity is notably reduced during winter. When actively growing, abundant watering is recommended, allowing the substrate to dry out completely before watering again. During winter, watering should be greatly reduced and only carried out when temperature conditions and the plant allow, avoiding keeping the roots damp in the cold.

🌸 Flowering
The flowers appear in clusters at the ends of the stems, generally several at a time. They are fleshy and star-shaped, about 2–4 cm in diameter, with coloration ranging from white or cream yellow to reddish, decorated with bands or spots in shades of brown, red, or purple. The central corona is yellow. Flowering is mainly concentrated in autumn, around October, coinciding with the drop in temperatures. As with other stapeliads, the flowers can emit an unpleasant odor intended to attract their pollinators (flies...)

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

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

14x14 cm gourmet black pot

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