Aeonium ciliatum

Description

Aeonium ciliatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae that produces large green leaf rosettes, which can be 50 centimetres (20 in) across.  The rosettes emerge from a woody stem that branches freely and can become very top heavy. It is endemic to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, where it prefers some shade, and is frequent in the Anaga peninsula in the north east of the island. Aeonium, the tree houseleeks, is a genus of about 35 species of succulent, subtropical plants of the family Crassulaceae. Many species are popular in horticulture. The genus name comes from the ancient Greek "αιώνιος"/"aionios" (ageless). While most of them are native to the Canary Islands, some are found in Madeira, Cape Verde, Morocco, in East Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya) and Yemen. The succulent leaves 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. 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 A. smithii; large species include A. arboreum, A. valverdense and A. holochrysum. They are related to the genera Sempervivum, Aichryson and Monanthes, as can be seen by their similar flower and inflorescences. Recently, the genus Greenovia has been placed within Aeonium. Most aeoniums are from the Canary Islands,  but some are from Madeira, Cape Verde, Morocco, Yemen and East Africa: Ethiopia (for example in the Semien Mountains), Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Some species have been introduced in California. Aeonium ciliatum is a species of Magnoliopsida first described by Carl Ludwig von Willdenow, and given the simplified Asian name by Webb & Berth. Aeonium ciliatum belongs to the genus Aeonium, and the family Crassulaceae.