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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Crassulaceae (Stonecrops) |
| Origin: Mexico (North America) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Red/Purple Foliage: Yes |
| Flower Color: Red & Yellow |
| Bloomtime: Winter/Spring |
| Synonyms: [Graptopetalum pentandrum ssp. superbum] |
| Height: <1 foot |
| Width: 2-3 feet |
| Exposure: Sun or Shade |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 20-25° F |
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Graptopetalum pentandrum (Five Stamen Graptopetalum) This succulent has 3 to 4 inch wide flat open rosettes at the ends of fleshy stems with thick pale yellow-gray leaves that have a faint purple blush. The flowers, which appear in late winter to early spring on open slightly branched inflorescences, are pale yellow with red markings near the petal tips, and with red stigma lobes and stamens, which like G. pentandrum, number five. Plant in full sun to light shade. Water occasionally to frequently. Hardy to 25 F or less. This easy to grow and prolific plant makes a good landscape plant or container specimen or even a hanging plant when stems elongate. This species was found by the long time director of the Huntington Botanic Garden, Myron Kimnach, in a nursery in Mexico in 1970 and was first described the following year by Reid Moran in the Cactus and Succulent Society of America Journal (Vol 43 No. 6). It was later found in 1987 growing in the wild at a waterfall in the state of Michoacan state by Alfred Lau. The name for the Genus comes the Greek words "graptos" meaning "marked" or "inscribed" and "petalon" meaning "petals" for the markings on the flower petals of many of the species. The specific epithet is from the Greek words 'penta' meaning "five" and 'andros' meaning "man" or in botany "stamens" in reference to this plant having five stamens while most in the genus have ten. This plant is sometimes confused with Graptopetalum superbum which was originally classified as a subspecies of Graptopetalum pentandrum but was later elevated to species level. To really confuse some people this plant has erroneously been listed as Graptopetalum superbum and true G. superbum as Graptopetalum superbum var. pentandrum, an invalid name that never existed! This plant differs from Graptopetalum superbum by having thinner stems holding smaller rosettes of yellow gray-green leaves that are blushed with violet colors. The leaves are about half as long and slightly narrower than G. superbum, which has pale violet gray colored leaves. The inflorescence of Graptopetalum pentandrum branches much less than G. superbum (3-4 times vs 12-15) and the flowers have less red in them. A major genetic difference between the two is that Graptopetalum pentandrum is a diploid with 32 chromosomes while G. superbum is a tetraploid with 64. See our listing of Graptopetalum superbum for more about this attractive and unusual plant.
This information about Graptopetalum pentandrum displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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