Echeveria chihuahuaensis – This is another beautiful glaucous Echeveria forms a tight short rosette to about 4 inches wide with scalloped leaves that come to a pronounced tip. The leaves have varying degrees of pinkish edges to the bluish-gray leaves. One form at the Huntington Botanic Garden lacks the powdery covering and is green but ours has gray-green leaves with distinct red markings near the tips. The pinkish, lightly-branching flower stalks reach up to 10 inches above the rosette, displaying the unfurling coral-pink flowers with a yellow interior. It is generally solitary and must usually reach full size before it begins to offset.
Plant in full sun to bright light in a well-drained soil. Probably hardy to at least 25 F. A beautiful plant but in some situations it may be susceptible to rot if water is allowed to collect among its leaves.
The genus Echeveria is a member of the large Crassula family (Crassulaceae), which has about 1,400 species in 33 genera with worldwide distribution. Echeveria, with approximately 180 species, are native to mid to higher elevations in the Americas with the main distribution in Mexico and central America but with one species found from as far north as southern Texas and several species occurring as far south as Bolivia, Peru and possibly Argentina. The name for the genus honors the Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy in 1828 by the French botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (DeCandolle) who was very impressed with Echeverría's drawings. Echeverría had accompanied the the Sessé and Mociño expedition (led by Martin de Sessé y Lacasta and Mariano Mociño Suárez de Figueroa) while exploring Mexico and northern Central America and had produced thousands of botanical illustrations. The book "The genus Echeveria" by John Pilbeam (published by the British Cactus and Succulent Society, 2008) is an excellent source of information on the species and "Echeveria Cultivars" by Lorraine Schulz (AKA Rudolf Schulz) and Attila Kapitany (Schulz Publishing, 2005) has beautiful photos and great information on the cultivars and hybrids. It has been argued by some that the correct pronunciation for the genus is ek-e-ve'-ri-a, though ech-e-ver'-i-a seems in more prevalent use in the US.
Echeveria chihuahuaensis comes from the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Mexico and is like a smaller version of the related Echeveria colorata but with a tighter and shorter rosette – an older collection of a plant called Echeveria tobarensis from a box canyon near the town of Tovar may represent the same species and, if so determined, this plant's name will likely change to reflect this. Some very reliable references (such as John Pilbeam's The Genus Echeveria) lists this plant with the specific epithet, which references the location this plant comes from, spelled chihuahuensis (w/o a 2nd "a") but we received the seed from the Ruth Bancroft Garden spelled with the second "a" and this spelling is how it is listed in Eric Walther's Echeveria and is listed as the currently correct name on the Royal Botanic Garden Kew database. The genus Echeveria was named to honor Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy in 1828 by the French botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (DeCandolle) who was very impressed with Echeverría's drawings. Echeverría had accompanied the the Sessé and Mociño expedition (led by Martin de Sessé y Lacasta and Mariano Mociño Suárez de Figueroa) while exploring Mexico and northern Central America and had produced thousands of botanical illustrations.
We received seed of this species that was collected at Basaseachi, Chihuahua in 2010 and grew and sold this very attractive plant from 2013 to 2017.
The information about Echeveria chihuahuaensis displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |