This one has stumped the Oklahoma U. Dept of Botany and many others, hope someone out there can help. Got this plant in a mixed succulent garden about 18 months ago. It only had stacks of long, tapering, green leaves around the base then, but produced the stalk & top growth quickly last summer, then stopped growing, never flowered. Cutting a leaf across shows the inside to be solid grainy green gel. The foliage grows in 4 stacks, the stacks facing the 4 compass points, with each new leaf in the stack resting on the one below it. I've spent lots of time looking on the web for anything like this, found one with similar base but not the top stalk which was marked "crassula". Any help would be greatly appreciated. First phot shows the overall plant, second one the leaf attachment. I'm calling this one "Triffid" after the scifi book & movie about plants from outer space!
I don't think I'll be of much help to you, other than to tell you I've seen this plant posted twice before...on 2 different forums by 2 different people. I'm pretty sure all were stumped back then. I don't believe any definitive ID was found. I have seen a plant which resembles it slightly, allthough this one is hairy, not smooth & glossy like yours. It is a Crassula nudicaulis form-which one, I'm not sure ~maybe v. hirta. Crassula may be a possibility for your plant. Flowers would definitely help in its ID. After I posted, I see this one has more info than the post from the C&S forum (getting here from link there). "Whoops" on my part, seeing you already think this may be a Crassula!
Thanks much for taking the time to respond! Any help is appreciated. I've been looking for 18 months with no luck. I'll try your suggestion and post back if I can find anything. Thanks again.
I wonder if maybe no one knows the name because it could be a hybrid of some sorts??? Like gasteria X aloe or crassula.It's a nice succulent whatever it is!
Interesting thought, Bluewing! Can Crassula & Glottiphyllum be crossed? Because that's what this plant makes me think of...even though I've never heard of such a thing! There are several Glottiphyllum with this shade of green, glossy leaves...but not that growth habit.
I found those other 2 posts I mentioned...from back in March. :) A couple people thought it could be C. nudicaulis (v. hirta -one said there are 3 forms of it). Three people said they had the same plant. Two of them said when it bloomed, it confirmed it was indeed a Crassula. The 3rd had her own post going, & posted several pix of the inflorescence, later also posting a pic of the buds on the inflor...but end of thread--no bloom pix were posted. It DID look like Crassula buds/inflor to me. One of the owners of these plants said she bought it tagged as Crassula 'Devil's Horns' but figured that was a made up name, as she never found any other reference to that name. So.o.o.o.o....which Crassula? I don't know! Sorry! Still a mystery!
Rosemarie, I guess anythings possible in the plant world! I have looked, and looked for your plant but nothing matches, so, I'm still thinking a possible hybrid at this point.I wish you luck finding the name. Please post back here if your successful on the id!
Could it be a mutant and some one in a nursery situation started making cutting from it and sold it to outlets with some sort of name. I too am clutching at sraws but love the look of it. I would say triffid is a great name. Liz
Thanks for the suggestion! I have a couple of gasteria & guess their leaves would have similar "gel" filling if cut open (but not going to try it!). If this darn plant would only apply itself and flower, we'd know! Is there any way to tell that it's a gasteria if it doesn't flower? Thanks again.
Hi, Bluewing! I checked out photos of crassula nudicaulis v. hirta. Lots of variety but some do have these long, tapering leaves, only the photos all show upward pointing foliage roughtly in rosette forms. Perhaps that's a parent plant for a hybrid. Would love to know what the top of this plant thinks it's doing! Just wanted to thank you all, also, for the great outpouring of ideas & interest. Got more input from you in a couple of days than I've gotten from any where! Thanks, thanks, thanks! Now I'm all fired up again!
Rosemarie, sorry about that, lol, brain freeze! constantgardener, I can see why crassula or half of it seems to be the one people think it might be, whether that's right or not, it's hard to say. I saw a few crassulas who's leaves were similar to yours, but the angle of the leaves wasn't right. Looking at Gasterias, many had stacked leaves, but the leaves weren't right. It's a brain teaser for sure! Well, all you can do I guess is keep looking and in the meantime, hope someone else has one in their collection that truly knows the correct name.
Hello everyone, I purchased this plant at Home Depot and I was also unsure what its called. After some research, I found out that Costa Farms in Florida supplies this plant to Home Depot, and they provide the service of identifying all their plants with care instruction. Costa Farms told me this plant is called the Devil's Horn based on a picture I provided of the net (because my plant didn't survive the abuse at Home Depot). I don't think this plant is the Devil's Horn because it is not erect. Instead it looks something like Medusa's hair. I noticed on the net, their are several people looking up this plant. I do wish I knew its name so that I can find it again, its a beautiful and unique plant. Good Luck.
I bought a couple of these from ikea in 2017 and have never been able to identify, sadly after a long battle they both didn’t make it. I have never come across another one.
Do you have any pictures? I'm surprised as the post & pics went to several people in various forums, etc. and we haven't found it yet. Would be very interesting to find it as a common roadside plant after all of that. Mine wasn't easy to grow, so wonder how it could survived outside. I'm personally leaning to the idea that the suppliers have propagated the plant as a filler for orders for general succulents.. I think I got it from Walmart back in 2006 or so, when Walmart carried a large variety of succulents for about 2 years. Thanks for sharing.
