Monanthes polyphylla L.

Garden: Sofia

Season: Spring

Monanthes is a genus of small, succulent, subtropical plants of the Crassulaceae family. The species are mostly endemic to the Canary Islands and the Savage Islands. A representative of this genus, Monanthes polyphylla, is now flowering in the Sofia University botanic garden’s greenhouse with its beautiful racemes of many-stellate flowers. The leaves of this extraordinary and beautiful plant are spatulate with entire margins and light green in color. They are gathered in small many-leaved rosettes, up to 0.8 inch (2 cm) in diameter, forming soft, dense clumps. In nature it grows in altitude range 100-1500 metres above sea level localized in crevices on shaded earthy cliffs and damp rocks. Monanthes polyphylla is a small growing succulent plant, up to 4.7 inches (12 cm) tall.