''Aeonium undulatum'' is a
succulent,
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...
in the family
Crassulaceae
The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Cr ...
. It is a
subshrub
A subshrub ( Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their ...
, one of the larger
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of ''
Aeonium
''Aeonium'', the tree houseleeks, is a genus of about 35 species of succulent, subtropical plants of the family Crassulaceae. Many species are popular in horticulture. The genus name comes from the ancient Greek αἰώνιος / aiōnios (agele ...
'' with an
rosette of bright, glossy green
leaves often over a metre from the ground on a single, unbranched stem.
Other rosettes do not branch off this stem (normally) but grow from the bottom, unlike most aeoniums. The plant is
monocarpic
Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die.
The term is derived from Greek (''mono'', "single" + ''karpos'', "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning ar ...
so the flowering stem will die when after producing its yellow
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...
, which is normally after about 5 years.
''Aeonium undulatum'' is
native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and enterta ...
and
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
to Gran Canaria in the Canary islands.
The Latin
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''undulatum'' means "wavy", and refers to the leaf shape.
The common name "saucer plant" is applied to this and other plants of a similar habit.
In
temperate regions this plant may be grown under glass, in a suitable cactus compost. It prefers full sun to part shade and requires excellent drainage.
In the
US, it may be grown outside in
zones 10 and 11.
References
{{Crassulaceae-stub
undulatum
Plants described in 1841