Xerophyte

Leaves

Tiny, rudimentary, triangular, thick, finely papillose, ascending, very early Falling, borne on tubercles.

Description

Echidnopsis cereiformisSN|18992]]SN|18992]] is a small snake-like succulent with thin tufted cylindrical branches (as implied in its generic name which means “viper-like”). It is named “cereiformis” from its cactus-like appearance (also a good mimic of stems of Euphorbia mamillaris). Tiny lovely flowers sprout out of the entire length of each stem but mainly toward the tip in autumn, they are typically pale to dull yellow, but also brownish or dark brown-purple.

Roots

fibrous.

Flowers

Very small, fascicled, sessile, pale yellow to dull yellow, but also brownish or dark brown-purple, produced near the stems summits. Corolla campanulate 3-8 mm across, inner surface usually hairless, brown-purple to red-brown or bright yellow with bristles on the outer surface. Calyx tube, hemispheric. Lobes 5 triangular, acute, erect to slightly diverging, valvate. Corona bright yellow, outer lobes reduced to linear or triangular teeth in gaps between inner lobes or absent. Pollinia erect, globose, yellow.

Blooming Season

Late summer to autumn.

Stem

7-30 cm (often up to 60) cm long. reclining to upright, leafless, green, dull dark green, brownish-green or reddish, rooted on the under side, round, with flatfish, tasselled ribs divided into 6-10 (usually 8) rows of broadly hexagonal, oblong, flat tubercles (podaria) each with a white central papilla (the remains of an undeveloped leaf), of a uniform bright green, firm consistence, papillose and faintly wrinkled surface. Buds from the transverse depressions on the ribs.