Excotic Flora and Canarian Flora

Crassulaceae - Genus Monanthes - Monanthes icterica

Monanthes icterica (Webb & Berth.) Christ.

Endemic to the two islands of Tenerife and La Gomera, and quit difficult to find.

I was looking since more than 5 years after tinny plant until I found this jewel on the Roque del Conde in the South of Tenerife. Once you know the habitat it prefers (100/1850meter) you can find this little plant nearly all over the island of Tenerife. As this dwarf therophyte succulent flowers in March/May it is just in that period I'm always on Tenerife (April/May and 1/2 Sept./October). You see as it is an annual plant, and quit often growing hidden between larger vegetation, in the beginning growing period it is very difficult to discover only his flowers betrays his presence.

Synonym to this plant are Petrophyes icterica and Aichrison mollii

Interesting as the only Monanthes which is not perennial. This minute annual appears in autumn, flowers in early spring, and has shed his seeds by end of the month of May.
In exposure the leaves are wholly black-purple on back.

Inflorescences 4-flowered with minute bracts; Flowers 6 parted. Scales reddish.

Monanthes icterica Barranco de Tejina

Monanthes icterica Ifonche

Monanthes icterica Roque del Conde

Crassulaceae - Genus Monanthes - Monanthes subcrassicaulis

Monanthes subcrassicaulis (Kuntze) Praeger

This is a very doubtful species. Praeger and Bramwell accept this as a real species there where Nyffeler considers it as a syn. of an on La Gomera growing Monanthes who should be the M. muralis.
On the first place the description of the Monanthes muralis those not fit to the Monanthes subcrassicaulis. The M. muralis is forming long branches pending alongside the rocky walls, the subcrassicaulis has very tinny rosettes on a very short creeping stem and this is growing on Tenerife an never seen elsewhere. If the two should have more resemblance and both should grow as well on Tenerife as on La Gomera then I should be ready to take it in consideration, but.....

I know only one finding place for this species and this is in the Teno Mountains near the place known as Cruz de Cilda near Masca.

For me the doubt should be faster coming from the of the Monanthes polyphylla who is nearly the same. Could be that our M. subcrassicaulis is crowing under very bad condition , and this is so, the adaption to this growing conditions gave difference in his appearance.

I let you make your conclusions having a look to added pics.

This is the site of the Monanthes subcrassicaulis

Monanthes subcrassicaulis

Crassulaceae - Genus Monanthes - Monanthes polyphylla

Monanthes polyphylla Haw.

Synonymes : Monanthes Monanthes Lindinger -

Sempervivum monanthes Aiton

Petrophyes polyphyllum Webb & Bert.

Characterized by its distinctly creeping habit. The plant forms a cushion or mat of many (mostly pinkish) very convex often shortly cylindrical very dense rosettes of equal size, on slender creeping stems. It was the first known of the genus Monanthes, and is still the most attractive in this genus. Inflorescence terminal, few flowered. Pedicels and calyx densely hairy.

Resemblances with the Monanthes subcrassicaulis and the Monanthes pallens var. silensis are remarkable and Buchard himself admits "Ihre systematik bleibt daher schwierig, und ist noch nicht abgeslossen"

As those species doesn't represent any commercial value no further studies has been done. So, you advised amateurs, here is interesting work to realise. For those who should be interested I could give a hand to realise you study material.

This is a delightful little plant, especially as seen on the Canary Islands filling rock-chinks with the clusters of pinkish-grey minute rosettes. In cultivation in our countries it loses this characteristic tinge, and remains green or purplish.

Distribution : Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Palma as from 100m up to 1500m. Flowering as from end of May until end of June.

The species described to be found on La Gomera should , in my opinion, be the Monanthes amydros. In some literature is mentioned that this species should have been found on the Island of El Hierro but no samples has been introduced in Bot. Gardens or herbarium, no exact description of the plant is accompanying this publications.
Hybridisation with the Monanthes laxiflora is often found in the Teno Mountains

Monanthes polyphylla flower in culture

Monanthes polyphylla Barranco de Afur

Monanthes polyphylla Barranco de Masca

Monanthes polyphylla in culture

Monanthes polyphylla Teno Alto

Monanthes polyphylla Barranco de Masca

Monanthes polyphylla & Greenovia dodrentalis

Road El Palmar to Teno Alto

Monanthes polyphylla Barranco de Masca

Monanthes polyphylla Road along Teno Bajo

Monanthes polyphylla & Aeonium tabuliformis

Barranco de Afur

Monanthes polyphylla & Aeonium lindleyi

Barranco de Afur

Monanthes polyphylla Path from Teno Bajo to Alto

Hybride Monanthes polyphylla & Monanthes laxiflora

Teno Mountains

Hybride Monanthes polyphylla & Monanthes laxiflora

Teno Mountains

Hybride Monanthes polyphylla & Monanthes laxiflora

Teno Mountains

Crassulaceae - Genus Monanthes - Monanthes pallens

Monanthes pallens - (Webb) Christ

Belongs to the famous genus with those small rosettes nearly impossible to spot them in dry period.

On our Island of Tenerife we can find about 14 species with their several var. or formas.

For the amateur with lack of space in his greenhouse it are the ideal species to collect.

Let us start with one of the most representative of this genus the Monanthes pallens who is an unbranched rosette plant . Roots fibrous, stem simple, erect and fleshy, very short, in older plants cylindrical, bare, bearing at its apex a dense leaf rosette which is convex or flat and in cultivations and in shade sometimes slightly concave 1/5.5cm diam. Leaves rhomboidal-spathulate and thick above, very attenuate below. Flowering shoots lateral, from the axils of outer older leaves, about 3/5cm long, simple and usually leafy in lower part, much branched above, with few small bracts. Buds globular. Flowers 6/7 parted, petals linear-oblanceolate yellowish, 3/4mm diam, slightly bad smell .

Flowering from end of March until end of June.

His habitat arid barranco's in rock crevices mostly in vertical position between 150 and 900m , forming dense groups of individual plants. Endemic to the Islands of Tenerife (Masca and the Teno mountains, Santiago del Teide, Tamaimo etc..) and La Gomera (Vallehermoso) , Bramwell pretends it should grow also on the island of El Hierro.

look in the left upper corner a lizard : Galotia galotii (fem.)

with a Greenovia dodrentalis

Monanthes pallens var. silensis - (Praeger) Svent

As the Monanthes pallens is very variable long time this species was not recognised, not as species not as fa or variety.

Some books consider this plant as a real species other (as I do) keep it as a variety. It is a fact that the var. silensis, in some cases, can really be very close to the species M. pallens. The last has a fusiform root system the var. silensis ( or should I really say the species) is tap rooted.

The two can be found in the same region, Teno and Roque del Conde in the South.

The rosettes are much smaller the by M. pallens, glaucous and convex, resembling those of the M. polyphylla. Leaves densely imbricated.

Inflorescence usually leafy on the base. When a number of this variety grow close together the resemblance to M polyphylla is disconcerting, but on close examination we can find that they are all growing on own roots and are completely separated the one from the other.

Monanthes pallens var silensis & Aeonium canariense

Monanthes pallens var silensis

Monanthes pallens var silensis fa cristata

Monanthes pallens var silensis

Monanthes polyphylla

Monanthes pallens var. silensis fa ramosa - Praeger

Rosette bearing, in addition to the axillary flowering shoots, multiple axillary branches terminating in perennial leaf rosettes. These secondary leaf rosettes bear normal axillary flowering shoots.

Habitat : Tenerife, Barranco Juan Lopez and Roque del Conde