This charming Mexican species has round leaves to 5 cm diameter, peltate (umbrella-like) with a pointed apex. In shade, these are held aloft on a slender stalk but in drier, brighter conditions will rest flat on the substrate. They are sometimes seen growing in tight rock crevices among moss. During the dry winter season the leaves die back to a small fleshy perennial tuber that resprouts when the rainy season begins or, in cultivation, when the weather warms up in the spring. We grow it under the bench where its bears slender, sinuous flower stalks that produce minute, self-fertile seed that germinates around the parents. We offer plants and progeny of HBG 51939, originally from John Bleck, June 7, 1984, when he maintained the fabulous teaching collection at UC Santa Barbara. $7.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 89 (3), May-June, 2017