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A lovely little prickly cushion from Argentina, I'm so used to it being called Abromeitiella that I am
finding Deuterocohnia a little difficult to adapt to. Who would believe that such a compact little tuft could prickle
the hands so effectively. It is hardy here, but it has to be dry dry dry.
Eventually forms large mounds of hard foliage, but it can die out in patches if it gets too stressed. Produces the most wonderful deep green flowers. It only produces them a few at a time but they are worth waiting for. When I first grew it I would split and divide it regularly, and it will produce new rosettes at an astonishing rate if it gets a chance, so I rapidly had more than I could cope with. In the end I planted them all together in a giant pan and they grew together into a great rounded cushion. Quite wonderful, if I had ever managed to get the whole cushion to flower at once it would have been outstanding, but I only managed a few at a time. In the end it got too big to manage and started to die off in patches, so I took a few rosettes from the side, and allowed the rest to die off. A chunk has been planted in the Agave house where it is in full sun but very dry. The clump is spreading across the rocks and the older sections die off which is an authentic appearance in habitat but I'm not sure I like the look in the garden. Llifle says: "Deuterocohnia brevifolia is native to Argentina (Catamarea, Sierra de Anconguija; Tucuman, Quebrada de la Hoyada; Jujuy, El Volcani; Salta, Pampa Granda) and Bolivia: Valle de Tambo. Deuterocohnia brevifolia is a dense, cushion-like plant, clambering over the rocks on steep walls in a very arid area. As the plant grows and branches the mounding colony spreads outward covering rock and sloping hillsides helping to slow run-off and prevent soil erosion. In its environments it is watered perhaps only twice a year, finding all of its moisture from the air itself. The only water it ever gets is in the form of sea fog It is a very variable species from quite variable habitats. Deuterocohnia brevifolia (Abromeitiella brevifolia) is a dwarf, succulent, bromeliad growing terrestrially. It forms 3-5 cm wide rosettes of lance-shaped to triangular stiff, fleshy, leaves that proliferate via offsets to form a compact rounded 'mound' up to 90-180 cm in diameter. These colonies from a distance often look soft and moss-like but they are anything but soft and cushy and touching or sitting on a plant would but more like encountering a bed of nails. Inconspicuous green flowers are borne on short inflorescences. A. brevifolia, distinguished by its relatively smooth leaf margins, has both a large and a small form, the latter (often with many marginal teeth) sometimes sold under the synonym A. chlorantha." |
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| 14th September 2009 | ||
