Aeonium

 ( Crassulaceae Genera ) 

Aeonium, the tree houseleeks, is a genus of about 35 species of succulent, subtropics plants of the family Crassulaceae. Many species are popular in horticulture. The genus name comes from the ancient Greek αἰώνιος / aiōnios (ageless).

While most of them are native plant to the Canary Islands, some are found in Madeira, Cape Verde, Morocco, in East Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya) and Yemen.

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Description The succulent Leaf are typically arranged on a basal stem, in a dense, spreading rosette. A feature which distinguishes this genus from many of its relatives is the manner in which the flowers bear free petals, and are divided into 6 or 12 sections. With the exception of , each rosette produces a central inflorescence only once, and then dies back (though it will usually branch or offset to produce ensuing rosettes).

Low-growing Aeonium species are A. tabuliforme and Aeonium smithii; large species include Aeonium arboreum and A. valverdense. They are related to the genera Sempervivum, Aichryson and Monanthes, as can be seen by their similar flower and . Recently, the genus Greenovia has been placed within Aeonium.

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Species and distribution All but two species are native to at least one of three different archipelagos (the Canary Islands, Madeira, or Cape Verde). Most aeoniums are from the Canary Islands,

(2026). 9788472071292, Editorial Rueda. ISBN 9788472071292

The only species not native to these three Macaronesian island groups ( Aeonium stuessyi and Aeonium leucoblepharum) are found in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania; and Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen, respectively. Aeonium arboreum is native to both the Canary Islands and Morocco.

Species accepted by Plants of the World Online as of April 2023:

+ ! Species ! Distribution !class=unsortable
Aeonium aizoon (Bolle) T.H.M.Mes	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium appendiculatum Bañares	Canary Islands (La Gomera)
Aeonium arboreum (L.) Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro); Morocco
Aeonium aureum (C.Sm. ex Hornem.) T.H.M.Mes	Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife)
Aeonium balsamiferum Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura)
Aeonium canariense (L.) Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife; La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro)
Aeonium castello-paivae Bolle	Canary Islands (La Gomera)
Aeonium ciliatum (Willd.) Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium cuneatum Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium davidbramwelii H.Y.Liu	Canary Islands (La Palma)
Aeonium decorum Webb ex Bolle	Canary Islands (Tenerife, La Gomera)
Aeonium dodrantale (Willd.) T.H.M.Mes	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium glandulosum (Aiton) Webb & Berthel.	Maderia (Madeira, Desertas, Porto Santo)
Aeonium glutinosum (Aiton) Webb & Berthel.	Madeira (Madeira, Desertas)
Aeonium gomerense (Praeger) Praeger	Canary Islands (La Gomera)
Aeonium goochiae (Christ.) Praeger	Canary Islands (La Palma)
Aeonium gorgoneum J. A. Schmidt	Cabo Verde (Santo Antão, São Nicolau, São Vicente)
Aeonium haworthii (Salm-Dyck ex Webb & Berthel.) Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium hierrense (R. P. Murray) Pit. & Proust.	Canary Islands (La Palma, El Hierro)
Aeonium lancerottense (Praeger) Praeger	Canary Islands (Lanzarote)
Aeonium leucoblepharum Webb ex A. Richard	Yemen, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda
Aeonium lindleyi Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium liui Arango	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium nobile (Praeger) Praeger	Canary Islands (La Palma)
Aeonium percarneum (R. P. Murray) Pit. & Proust.	Canary Islands (Gran Canaria)
Aeonium rubrolineatum Svent.	Canary Islands (La Gomera)
Aeonium saundersii Bolle	Canary Islands (La Gomera)
Aeonium sedifolium (Webb ex Bolle) Pit. & Proust.	Canary Islands (Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma))
Aeonium simsii (Sweet) Stearn.	Canary Islands (Gran Canaria)
Aeonium smithii (Sims) Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium spathulatum (Hornem.) Praeger	Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife; La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro)
Aeonium stuessyi H.-Y. Liu	Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania
Aeonium tabuliforme (Haw.) Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium undulatum Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Gran Canaria)
Aeonium urbicum (C. Sm. ex Hornem.) Webb & Berthel.	Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Aeonium valverdense (Praeger) Praeger	Canary Islands (El Hierro)

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Hybrids Much hybridising has been done, resulting in several cultivars of mixed or unknown parentage. The following species and cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-

• Aeonium tabuliforme
• Aeonium haworthii
• Aeonium haworthii 'Variegatum'
• Aeonium 'Blushing Beauty'
• Aeonium 'Sunburst'
• Aeonium 'Zwartkop'

Hybridising between Aeonium species or cultivars and other Crassulaeceae species or cultivars has produced intergeneric crosses:

• x Semponium 'Sienna' ( Sempervivum 'Green Ice' x Aeonium 'Ice Warrior').
• x Semponium 'Destiny' - winner of the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show 'Chelsea Plant of the Year 2022' award.

Some species have been introduced in California.

UK national collections of aeoniums are held by Mellie Lewis at Clun in Shropshire and by Inverewe at Poolewe, Wester Ross in Scotland.

==Images==

• R. Nyffeler, "Aeonium", in Urs Eggli, ed. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Crassulaceae (Springer, 2003)
• M. Cristini, "The Genus Aeonium" (Rome, 2022)

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