El Aeonium tabulaeforme It is one of those plants that attracts the most attention: not because of its flowers or its height, but because of its rosette of leaves which seems to be flattened as if it were a plate.
It is so beautiful and so curious, that it is easy to attract all eyes. But, What is it like and what care does it need?
How is it?
El Aeonium tabulaeforme is the scientific name of a plant native to the Canary Islands which was described by David Allardyce Webb & Gottfried Dietrich Wilhelm Berthold and published in History of Nature of the Canary Islands in 1840. It is popularly known as góngano, rock cake and yerba puntera.
It is a plant that forms a rosette of 100 to 200 leaves which are glabrous and bordered by soft white cilia. In general, it does not form a stem, but in cultivation it can grow up to 25cm in length. The flowers, which sprout in summer (July-August in the northern hemisphere), appear grouped in a yellowish-green inflorescence that measures more than 30cm in height.
What care do you need?
Image from Wikimedia / Amada44
This is a plant that to be able to enjoy to the fullest it is necessary to grow it in pots or in soils that have very good drainage, since it does not resist waterlogging. The sandy-type soils, such as river sand, akadama, or pomx are ideal, but if we cannot get any of them, we can mix the universal cultivation substrate or the garden soil with perlite in equal parts.
Regarding irrigation, you have to water very little: no more than once a week in summer and every 10-15 days the rest of the year. Likewise, it will be very important to pay the Aeonium tabulaeforme in spring and summer with a fertilizer for cacti and other succulents following the indications specified on the product packaging.
Finally, we have to know that can be grown outside all year long if there is no frost or these are very soft (down to -1ºC).