Orbeopsis melanantha

Family

Asclepaidaceae

Native

East Africa

Description

Orbea verrucosa is a succulent, leafless perennial with strongly toothed stems up to 80 mm long, erect forming small clumps or mats. The five pointed, cupped, star-shaped flowers are finely warted or irregularly ridged and have a 'life-belt' ring around the centre, they are pale yellow with dark purple marks, but varies considerably in the depth of the yellow ground-colour and the darkness of the spotting.

The stems are erect, decumbent at the base, 3.5-8 cm long, 6-16 mm across excluding spreading teeth, obtusely 4-angled, with spreading conical acute teeth 3-8 mm long, glabrous & green

Environment

Orbea plants prefer early morning or late afternoon sun. They will require much water and soaking the pots. They will tolerate very hot weather outdoors as long as they are kept in filtered light and this will encourage them to flower in the Autumn. They also enjoy some fertilizer.
As soon as they are flowered be sure to take extra precautions to keep them dry, because damp cool conditions when the plants are resting is an invitation to fungal infections

Since roots are quite shallow, use a cactus mix or add extra perlite or pumice to regular soil potting soil. A gritty, very free-draining compost is suitable, and clay pots help the plants to dry out between watering. Re-pot every 1 year.

Landscape Uses

Makes an attractive landscape plant and grasslands or pampas, on plains and walls It is an excellent plant for container growing. It always looks good and stays small.