This species was previously distributed as ISI 96-45 but is still rare in cultivation. This is due in part to its slow-growing, water-sensitive nature. It eventually forms a small tree or shrub to 3 m. tall, producing at each stem-tip a few of its simple lanceolate-elliptical to ovate, fleshy leaves. These are matte green under greenhouse conditions but can take on a red or purplish cast when grown “hard” outdoors. The succulent stems are covered with a thick cuticle of crackled wax and eventually peeling bark. Our seedlings are not yet of flowering size, but that is something to look forward to – the red-violet flowers are borne in elongate racemes that stand well-above the foliage. These are well illustrated in Rauh’s Succulent and Xerophytic Vegetation of Madagascar, Vol. 2. HBG 87255, Röösli & Hoffmann 3398, from seeds coll. Nov. 24, 1998, at St. Augustin, Tulear, Madagascar. $9.50.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 74 (2), March - April, 2002