Senecio mweroensis subs. saginatus

Family

Asteraceae

Origin

Somalia

Description

Senecio mweroensis subs. saginatus (Kleinia saginata) is a perennial, tuberous-rooted, succulents herb with glabrous deciduous jointed stem branching at or below ground-level, base sometimes swollen. It is differing from Senecio mweroensis for its upright, fatter, almost globose stem branching at the top, with distinctive shape and an attractive pattern of shorter spidery lines radiating from the leaf bases.

It has dull red to bright magenta florets. It is closely related to to Senecio pendulus, which differs in its curious burrowing habit and extreme reduction of leaves.

Environment

Plant in full sun and give little to no irrigation but with occasional summer irrigation will hold the leaves on the stems which otherwise fall off.

Preferably, the soil for container-grown plants should be a mixture of two parts sand, one part loam, one part pea gravel, and one part peat moss. Plants should perform well in soils of pH 6.0 to 7.5.

Fertilizer is seldom a necessity for these plants as the soil is rocky and desolate in their natural habitat. It needs moderate water during from spring to autumn, keeps rather dry in winter or the plants may rot at the base. The plant will tolerate being dried out much more than other types of succulents. The converse is also true, the plant will suffer greatly from over watering. These species do tend to get sort of leggy, which is

Landscape Use

Makes an interesting and wild plant in the garden or in a large pot. It is widespread in the drier, sandy rocky areas, hill slopes, escarpment, vertical cliffs and ledges often in crevices.