Curio ficoides

Curio ficoides, syn. Senecio ficoides, also known as skyscraper senecio, Mount Everest senecio or flat-leaved senecio, is a species of succulent plant, in the genus Curio (Asteraceae), indigenous to South Africa.

Flat-leaved senecio
In the Karoo Desert Botanical Garden, Western Cape, South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Curio
Species:	C. ficoides
Binomial name
Curio ficoides Curio ficoides (L.) & P.V.Heath (1999)
Synonyms
Cacalia ficoides L. Kleinia ficoides (L.) Haw. Senecio ficoides (L.) Sch.Bip. Sources: IPNI,[1] AFPD[2]

Description

Spreading, scrambling form of the leaves

Close-up of inflorescences

A succulent, spreading shrub, it reaches over 1 meter in height. The brittle, succulent branches lose their leaves lower down. The leaves are blue-green to blue grey, pruinose, succulent, erect, tapering and flattened laterally, with translucent lines down both sides. The flower capitula have no ray florets, and appear on a terminal, branching inflorescence.

Relatives

This is a polyploid species (2n=100). However, its closest relatives are Curio repens, Curio radicans, Curio herreanus, and Curio hallianus, which have a variable number of chromosomes.

It is easily confused with Curio talinoides, which has a similar growth habit. However, the leaves of C. talinoides are rounded-cylindrical in cross section. In contrast, the leaves of C. ficoides are usually somewhat knife-like, flattened laterally.^[3]