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x Pachyveria 'Clavifolia' (Jeweled Crown) - An attractive succulent with short, 2 to 6 inch long, stems terminating with dense 4 to 6 inch wide echeveria-like rosettes. The thick, flattish 1 to 2 inch long by 1/2 inch wide leaves are a glaucous blue-gray color with slightly pointed blunted leaf tips. The leaves are held slightly upcurved into a tight rosette at first but more relaxed with age so later spreading and even slightly recurving near the base of the stem are slightly concave along the inside edge but convex on the outside and narrowest near their base with the leaf tip and margins having a pinkish blush that is most prominent when grown in full sun. In spring and often other times throughout the year appears the 1-2 foot tall one-sided inflorescence bearing star shaped orange-red flowers tightly clustered near the pendent tip.
Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil. Give occasional to infrequent irrigation. Reportedly hardly to 20 F. It is easy to grow in a well-drained garden soil or in containers. Leaves are smaller and pinker than Pachyphytum bracteosum.
We received this plant as Echeveria elegans 'Gray Red' but noting that this very nice plant did not resemble Echeveria elegans or, in fact, any other Echeveria, we started asking about it to determine its actual identity. Our local succulent mentor John Bleck was the first to peg this as a x Pachyveria, the cross between Echeveria and Pachyphytum. Korean Echeveria specialist Seong Ju Hwang told us that the plant was x Pachyveria 'Scheideckeri' and we listed it under this name for five years before we were alerted by Swiss Crassulaceae specialist Margrit Bischofberger that this plant is actually x Pachyveria 'Clavifolia', an old hybrid between Pachyphytum bracteosum and Echeveria rosea created by Jean-Baptiste A. Deleuil of Marseilles created in the late 1800s. He first listed it in his nursery catalog in 1874 and it was described by Alwyn Berger in "Gartenflora" in 1904. This plant has been sold in the California nursery trade as Echeveria elegans 'Gray Red' or just E. 'Gray Red' (or with the British spelling 'Grey Red') and also as Echeveria haagai var. tolimanensis. Another common name for this plant is Powdered Jewel Plant.
We grew this very nice plant from 2010 until 2022. There is a nice listing with pictures of this plant on the International Crassulaceae Network.
The information about Pachyveria 'Clavifolia' 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. |
