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Echeveria lutea - A beautiful small solitary growing plant to 8 inches wide with narrow 4- to 6-inch-long reddish-purple leaves that enroll at the margins, forming a deep hollow in the middle of the leaf on the upper surface with the green lower surface facing up, giving the plant a distinct bi-colored look. This coloration and rolled leaf are most prominent when water-stressed or when grown in full sun - with regular irrigation shade grown plants flatten out a bit and are greener. The unbranched flower inflorescence appears during summer and rises well above the foliage on a straight stalk and arches over towards the tip so that the clear yellow flowers point downwards.
In habitat this species is a shade or only part sun growing plant but in cooler coastal climates it will likely take full sun and the leaf coloration will likely be redder. Hardiness not known but it has handled temperatures down to 32° F at our nursery. A very interesting succulent for its deeply channeled reddish leaves when stressed.
Echeveria lutea is found growing on limestone in high oak woodland shade or in morning sun throughout a fairly wide range in the San Luis Potosi and Hidalgo, Mexico. The name for the genus honors the Mexican botanical artist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy in 1828 by the French botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (DeCandolle) who was very impressed with Echeverría's drawings. Echeverría had accompanied the the Sessé and Mociño expedition (led by Martin de Sessé y Lacasta and Mariano Mociño Suárez de Figueroa) while exploring Mexico and northern Central America and had produced thousands of botanical illustrations. The specific epithet 'lutea' refers to this plants saffron-yellow flowers.
We sold this beautiful plant from 2013 until 2017. Our plants came from seed collected in 2010 in the Valle de los Fantasmas (Valley of the Ghosts) between the towns of San Luis Potosi and Rio Verde near the Village of Las Rucias where us was growing on and between rocks with Ceratozamia zaragozae, Agave gracielae, Brahea decumbens, Bursera and Oak.
The information about Echeveria lutea that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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