Echeveria
Echeveria · Hen and Chicks
It grows on rocky, sun-blasted slopes and cliffs across Mexico, a flat symmetrical rosette of thick, chalk-pastel leaves. The mother plant throws "chick" offsets around its base, and a single dropped leaf will sprout a whole new plant.
Family
Crassulaceae
Origin
Mexico
In the wild
Sun-blasted cliffs
Indoors
2.5–30 cm
Growth
Slow
With pets
Non-toxic
Where it's from
Mexico and Central America
Mexican rock country
About 95% of the roughly 150 species are endemic to Mexico, on cliffs and canyon walls at 1,000 to 3,000 m.
Outdoors: zones 9–11
Frost-tender. A summer patio plant at most, brought in before the first frost.
Narrow endemics
Many species are confined to a single mountain or rock system, which is what makes wild collection so damaging.
A leaf makes a plant
Lay a single cleanly pulled leaf on dry soil and it will grow a tiny rosette and roots of its own. That is why named cultivars are cloned endlessly from leaves and offsets, not seed. Hybrids will not come true from seed, so the leaf is the whole supply chain.
One leaf, one plant
A fallen leaf on dry mix sprouts a whole new rosette.
Named after an illustrator
The genus honours Atanasio Echeverria, an 18th-century Mexican botanical artist.
A breeder's playground
Weak reproductive barriers let it cross genus lines into Graptoveria, Pachyveria and Sedeveria hybrids.
How to keep it
LightFull sun to bright indirect
Needs strong light for tight rosettes and colour. It stretches and pales in shade.
WaterSoak and dry
Water only when the soil is fully dry, and never let water sit in the rosette, which rots the crown.
HumidityDry air is fineNo misting. Moisture trapped in the crown causes rot.
TemperatureAbove 10°CNot frost-hardy. Bring it indoors before frost.
SoilGritty cactus mixFast-draining loam or sand with added grit.
FeedingBarelyA dilute feed once or twice in the growing season is plenty.
DifficultyEasyThrives on neglect. Overwatering is the main way to lose it.
With petsNon-toxicListed non-toxic to cats, dogs and horses. A safe-choice succulent for pet homes.
PropagationLeaf or offsetLay a fallen leaf on dry mix, or pull the chick offsets. Named hybrids must be cloned, not seeded.
RepottingEvery 2–3 yearsWhen crowded with offsets or rootbound. Refresh the gritty mix.
What the data says
What it costs
A commodity gift plant at the species level, with a real collector market for the rare ones.
$5–20
Variegates, named Korean hybrid imports and slow wild species like E. laui run from $30 well into the hundreds.
IUCN · Few assessed
In the wild
Billions exist in cultivation while the same craze strips rare species from single Mexican cliffs.
Several Mexican species are recognised as threatened, hit by habitat loss and illegal wild collection for the trade. Unlike its lookalike Dudleya, the genus has no CITES protection, so it ships freely. The windowsill rosette is safe. Its wild cousins are not.
When it sulks
Mushy, blackening baseRoot or crown rot from overwatering or water trapped in the rosette. The number one killer.
Stretched, leggy rosetteToo little light. Move it brighter, or behead and re-root the top.
Faded colourNot enough sun. The colour is a light-stress response.
Wrinkled, soft leavesThe rarer opposite: too long without water.
White cottony tuftsMealybugs, often in the leaf axils. Treat early.
Varieties & company
The varieties
Perle von NurnbergBlack PrinceLipstickDoris TaylorLaui
Pairs with · keep apart from
SedumHaworthiaAloeMonsteraFernsCalathea
A new plant, every week.
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