How do you recognize your succulent plant? Is it a houseleek or an Echeveria? Can it stay outside, or will it freeze or rot due to humidity? How to tell the difference between a Joubarbe and an Echeveria. Here are a few concrete points of differentiation.
How can you tell a Joubarbe from an Echeveria?
A few weeks ago, at a plant fair, I fell for a beautiful bluish rose. The seller told me it would grow outside. So I followed his advice and put it in the ground outside.
But as the cool nights became more frequent, I began to wonder about this plant.
It doesn’t look much like my usual houseleeks. Wasn’t the seller mistaken when he told me that this plant would stand up to the Breton winter, which is sometimes too wet and even too cold for some plants?
So I began my investigation. Is my pretty rose a Joubarbe or an Echeveria? Will I have to pot it up again to get through the winter? What are its needs?
What the two plant varieties have in common
- A rosette shape
- A wide range of colors
- From the crassulaceae family
- Likes the sun
Why is it important to differentiate between them?
Well, quite simply because they don’t have the same needs. They don’t have the same geographical origins and therefore don’t require the same growing conditions.
The Echeveria genus:
Origin Mexico and Texas
- Indoor cultivation
- Humidity-averse
- Need for warmth and sun
- Large rosette up to 40 cm high and 50cm spread
- Leaves are often silvery: this color comes from a kind of wax called bloom, which protects the plant from sunburn.
- Each rose blossoms several times
The Joubarbe genus
Origin Mediterranean region
- Withstands cold and even sub-zero temperatures
- Prefers calcareous and poor soils
- Fears excessive humidity
- Deep roots
- Multiplication by stolon
What about sempervivum?
Well, it’s more or less the same as houseleek. Joubarbe is the vernacular name for sempervivum. Around the world, sempervivum is called sempervivum, but here it’s called joubarbe and sometimes elsewhere, jovibarbe.
Some botanists differentiate between houseleek and sempervivum. But for us amateurs, these two genera can be likened to each other.
In concrete terms, how can you make the difference?
Here are a few very concrete points of difference to help you avoid confusing Echeveria and Joubarbe when there’s no indication on the pot or you’ve taken a cutting.
Echeveria
- The flower-bearing stem emerges between the leaves
- Roses can bloom several times and live for many years.
- The bell-shaped flowers have 5 petals.
- The edge of the sheet is smooth
- The plant multiplies, forming a new rosette at the foot of the first. The new rosette appears nested within the first.
- The échéveria are often silver.
Joubarbe
- The flower appears in the center: the rosette rises into flower
- The rosette dies after flowering
- Star-shaped flower, more than 5 petals
- The edge of the leaf is not smooth and has small spikes or hairs.
- The plant multiplies by forming stolons which bear new rosettes that tend to grow out of the pot.
- Houseleeks are often green
In conclusion, it seems that my plant is indeed an Echeveria. For the moment, it has resisted the humidity well, but it hasn’t rained much. So I’ll have to repot it.
I hope I’ve helped you determine which variety your plant is.
