Flowering Titanopsis calcarea

I bought my first Titanopsis calcarea plants (SB 1111; Magersfontein, Kimberley, South Africa) this summer and they have been growing in my unheated greenhouse since. I'd read that T. calcarea flower in late fall and winter but have to admit I was a bit surprised to see a flower on December 22, one day after the winter solstice.


Flowering Titanopsis calcarea – close-up

The orange/bronze colored flower looks beautiful illuminated by the low winter sun. I'm fascinated by the rosettes of blue-green, white tipped leaves with grayish white tubercles – the species name calcarea means “of or pertaining to limestone”, i.e. looking like limestone.


Flowering Titanopsis calcarea (SB 1111; Magersfontein, Kimberley, South Africa)

T. calcarea clumps readily, forming dense succulent mats with age.

The plants were bought from Kakteen-Haage.