Succulent Seeds

Sceletium Tortuosum (Mesembryanthemaceae)is a succulent herb commonly found in South Africa, which is also known as Kanna, Channa, Kougoed (Kauwgoed,/ 'kougoed', prepared from 'fermenting' Sceletium tortuosum - which literally means, 'chew(able) things/goodies' or 'something to chew'. The plant has been used by South African pastoralists and hunter-gatherers as a mood-altering substance from prehistoric times. The first known written account of the plant's use was in 1662 by Jan van Riebeeck. The traditionally prepared dried sceletium was often chewed and the saliva swallowed, but it has also been made into gel caps, teas and tinctures. It has also been used as a snuff and smoked.

USDA Zone - 8

Season to Sow - Autumn

A selection of mixed cacti seeds. Easy to germinate and grow, decide between planting them in sandy soils outdoors or why not start a hobby growing potted ornamental cacti. The mix is made up of 20 different cacti species.

Lithops is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words lithos, meaning "stone," ops, meaning "face," referring to the stone-like appearance of the plants. They avoid being eaten by blending in with surrounding rocks and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. The formation of the name from the Greek "-ops" means that even a single plant is called a Lithops.

A mixture of different species. Sow Spring.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

Plumeria (common name Frangipani) is a genus of flowering plants of the family that includes Dogbane. It contains 7-8 species of mainly deciduous shrubs and small trees. They are native to New Zealand, Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Brazil but have been spread throughout the world's tropics.[ Plumeria is related to the Oleander, Nerium oleander, and both possess an irritant, rather similar to that of Euphorbia. Contact with the sap may irritate eyes and skin. Each of the separate species of Plumeria bears differently shaped alternate leaves, with distinct form and growth habits. The leaves of P. alba are quite narrow and corrugated, whereas leaves of P. pudica have an elongated shape and glossy, dark-green colour. P. pudica is one of the ever blooming types with non-deciduous, evergreen leaves. Another species that retains leaves and flowers in winter is P. obtusa; though its common name is "Singapore," it is originally from Colombia. Plumeria flowers are most fragrant at night in order to lure sphinx moths to pollinate them. The flowers have no nectar, and simply dupe their pollinators. The moths inadvertently pollinate them by transferring pollen from flower to flower in their fruitless search for nectar.

A mixture of 8 different Plumeria species.

Argyroderma is a genus consisting of over 50 species of succulents in the ice plant family from South Africa. These distinctive plants are among those known as "living stones", because their highly succulent, usually stem less, blue-green leaves occur at ground level and can resemble small stones. They form small clumps of a few or many paired, usually cylindrical to egg-shaped leaves that are cleft in the centre. Each stem bears just 2 leaves per season but may produce offsets over the years. In some species the old leaves persist and form a short column on which new leaves develop. Solitary daisy-like flowers, usually white, yellow, or purple, appear in the cleft. A mix of 5-8 Argyroderma species. The mix of species varies depending on which seeds are available.

USDA Zone - 8

Season to Sow - Autumn

Crassula is a large genus of succulent plants containing many species, including the popular Jade Plant, Crassula ovata. They are native to many parts of the globe, but cultivated varieties are almost exclusively from the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Crassulas are usually propagated by stem or leaf cuttings. Most cultivated forms will tolerate some small degree of frost, but extremes of cold or heat will cause them to lose foliage and die. A mix of 5-8 Crassula species. The mix of species varies depending on which seeds are available.

USDA Zone - 8

Season to Sow - Autumn / Spring

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

Native to Madagascar, Pachypodium densiflorum grows on granite rocks in the central plateau of Madagascar. Pachypodium densiflorum grows from a sizeable, fleshy basal caudex. Shoots growing from the caudex are regularly branched and spiny at the youngest parts. Leaves appear at the top of these shoots during vegetation periods and are lanceolate and deep green. The flowers are yellow and appear on long peduncles.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus, is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae. Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. The fruit of prickly pears, commonly called cactus fruit, cactus fig, Indian fig or tuna in Spanish, is edible, although it has to be peeled carefully to remove the small spines on the outer skin before consumption. If the outer layer is not properly removed, glochids can be ingested, causing discomfort of the throat, lips, and tongue, as the small spines are easily lodged in the skin. Native Americans, like the Tequesta, would roll the fruit around in a suitable medium (e.g. grit) to "sand" off the glochids. Alternatively, rotating the fruit in the flame of a campfire or torch has been used to remove the glochids.

Indigenous low growing, carpet forming plants with beautiful shiny flowers that open in the full sun. Hardy.

USDA Zone - 8

Season to Sow - Autumn

Aloe is a genus containing about 400 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". The genus is native to Africa, and is common in South Africa's Cape Province, the mountains of tropical Africa, and neighbouring areas such as Madagascar, the Arabian peninsula, and the islands of Africa. Most Aloe species have a rosette of large, thick, fleshy leaves. The leaves are often lance-shaped with a sharp apex and a spiny margin. Aloe flowers are tubular, frequently yellow, orange, pink or red, and are borne, densely clustered and pendant, at the apex of simple or branched, leafless stems. Many species of Aloe appear to be stem less, with the rosette growing directly at ground level; other varieties may have a branched or unbranched stem from which the fleshy leaves spring. They vary in colour from grey to bright-green and are sometimes striped or mottled. Some Aloes native to South Africa are arborescent.

Growing to 0.6m with densely rosulate copiously spotted leaves and yellow to red flowers with basal swelling in winter.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

Pleiospilos is a genus of South African succulent plants that belong to the Aizoaceae family. The name is derived from the Greek pleios (many) and splos (spot). The plants are also known as kwaggavy (Quagga mesemb), lewerplant (liver plant), lewervygie (liver mesemb), klipplant (stone plant) and split rock from their rock like appearance. Pleiospilos species have two or four opposite grey-green leaves that grow from a short stem that may be underground. Flowers emerge from the centre of the leaves. Pleiospilos species reproduce both sexually and asexually. Vegetative offshoots emerge from the root system. A mix of 5-8 Pleiospilos species. The mix of species varies depending on which seeds are available.

USDA Zone - 8

Season to Sow - Autumn

Echinocactus is a genus of cacti in the subfamily Cactoideae. The generic name derives from the Ancient Greek echinos, meaning "spiny," and cactus. It and Ferocactus are the two genera of barrel cactus. Members of the genus usually have large spines and small flowers. They thrive on plenty of sun. Perhaps the best known species is the Golden Barrel Cactus from Mexico, an easy-to-grow and widely cultivated plant. Echinocactus grusonii is a well known species of cactus native to central Mexico from San Luis Potosi to Hidalgo. Described by Heinrich Hildmann in 1891, it is popularly known as the Golden Barrel Cactus, Golden Ball or, amusingly, Mother-in-Law's Cushion.

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

Pachypodium gracilius is a species of Pachypodium endemic to Madagascar. The plant trunk is pachycaule, and typically short and fat. It produces yellow flowers.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

Occurring naturally in Southern Madagascar, the deciduous leaves are very long, narrow and green with a light grey felt covering, most notably on the undersides. The trunk is a smooth greyish silver and may reach 30 feet in time. Spines are in clusters of three and are sharp and strong. Can grow 6 to 12 inches a year. Makes a superb potting variety.

USDA Zone - 10

Season to Sow - Spring

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

A squat pachycaule with a smooth trunk that turns silver gray as it ages. There are weak, reddish, conical spines on the upper half of the plant. After the plant first flowers, it begins to branch until it forms a head of short, thick, tapered branches with groups of leaves sprouting from the tips of the branches. Blooms in the late winter and early spring before the leaves appear. The open-faced canary yellow flowers occur at the end of long stalks. In nature, the plant grows in full sun in all types of soil and at varying altitudes. Requires abundant water during the growing season and some water during the winter if it does not lose its leaves. The plant has a clear gummy sap that is used medicinally and as an adhesive. It has been considered poisonous but not caustic. This plant is endemic to Madagascar.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

Aloe is a genus containing about 400 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". The genus is native to Africa, and is common in South Africa's Cape Province, the mountains of tropical Africa, and neighbouring areas such as Madagascar, the Arabian peninsula, and the islands of Africa. Most Aloe species have a rosette of large, thick, fleshy leaves. The leaves are often lance-shaped with a sharp apex and a spiny margin. Aloe flowers are tubular, frequently yellow, orange, pink or red, and are borne, densely clustered and pendant, at the apex of simple or branched, leafless stems. Many species of Aloe appear to be stem less, with the rosette growing directly at ground level; other varieties may have a branched or unbranched stem from which the fleshy leaves spring. They vary in colour from grey to bright-green and are sometimes striped or mottled. Some Aloes native to South Africa are arborescent.

To 18m much branched tree, greyish rough bark, deeply channelled leaves with whitish teeth on margins, salmon-pink to orange flowers in Winter. Sow Spring.

USDA Zone - 10

Season to Sow - Spring

Cheiridopsis is a genus that consists of 100 succulents, native to southern Africa. Most are clumping form, a few are shrubby. The leaves are opposite and triangular in section, rarely flattened, the surface more or less velvety, which makes them easy to distinguish from species of the allied genus Argyroderma. The name comes from the Greek, "cheiris" means sleeve. Each succeeding pair differs from the previous one in form, size, and relative unity of the leaves. Those most united wither in the resting period and form a papery sheath covering the succeeding pair of leaves during dormancy in dry, hot summer. Daisy-like flowers open during the day, are borne singly and usually have yellow, rarely purple or red, petals. A mix of 5-8 Cheiridopsis species. The mix of species varies depending on which seeds are available.

USDA Zone - 8

Season to Sow - Autumn

Aloe is a genus containing about 400 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". The genus is native to Africa, and is common in South Africa's Cape Province, the mountains of tropical Africa, and neighbouring areas such as Madagascar, the Arabian peninsula, and the islands of Africa. Most Aloe species have a rosette of large, thick, fleshy leaves. The leaves are often lance-shaped with a sharp apex and a spiny margin. Aloe flowers are tubular, frequently yellow, orange, pink or red, and are borne, densely clustered and pendant, at the apex of simple or branched, leafless stems. Many species of Aloe appear to be stem less, with the rosette growing directly at ground level; other varieties may have a branched or unbranched stem from which the fleshy leaves spring. They vary in colour from grey to bright-green and are sometimes striped or mottled. Some Aloes native to South Africa are arborescent.

3m, old leaves retained on tall stem, densely flower branched raceme, red flowers in Winter, very showy. Sow Spring.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

This name is commonly used for compact growing or morphological form of Pachypodium lamerei from Atsimo, eastern Toliara. This variety remains small and flowers at a young age and produces sweet scented white flowers with a yellow throat.

USDA Zone - 10

Season to Sow - Spring

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

USDA Zone - 10

Season to Sow - Spring

Faucaria is a genus of around 33 species of succulent subtropical plants of the family Aizoaceae. The name comes from the Latin word "fauces" (= animal mouth) because of the appearance of leaves. The natural habitat is in the Cape Province and the Karoo desert. Small plants of 8 cm diameter, with thick triangular leaves. On the edges of the leaves there are upright teeth in opposite pairs that looks like an animal mouth. It may become bushy.

Lithops is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words lithos, meaning "stone," ops, meaning "face," referring to the stone-like appearance of the plants. They avoid being eaten by blending in with surrounding rocks and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. The formation of the name from the Greek "-ops" means that even a single plant is called a Lithops.

Dwarf succulent, mottled leaves, white flowers in Autumn. A good potting variety. Dry in Winter & early Summer. Sow Spring.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

The range of the genus Antimima spreads from southern Namibia southward to the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. A few species are found in the Northern Great Province and the Free State. In general, the plants form dense, symmetrical cushions. The flowers, which can appear throughout the year, are pink to purple and can appear in clusters or be solitary. The genus is closely related to the genus Ruschia, the only real difference being in the seed capsule structure. In general the plants are not finicky and are easily propagated by seed or cutting. Large species do well as rockery plants, while the small species make good pot subjects. Few species of this large genus are cultivated. A mix of 5-8 Antimima species. The mix of species varies depending on which seeds are available.

USDA Zone - 8

Season to Sow - Autumn

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

Occurring in Madagascar, the deciduous leaves are long, narrow and green with a lighter green vein running the length of the leaf. The leaves form around the growth tips of the trunk and branches and have a downward curvature in the length. The trunk is a smooth silvery brown and the plant may reach 30 feet in time. The spines are small and conical. The flowers are large white salver form and resemble that of lealii with a yellow centre and the smell of perfume. Rutenbergianum should be given full light and plenty of water during the warmer months and less water in the cool months but should be dampened before drying out occurs. This species is one of the least widely cultivated of the tree species. Seedlings grow quickly.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

The quiver tree or Aloe dichotoma is probably the best known aloe found in South Africa and Namibia. Visitors to the Cape can see a recently planted forest of quiver trees at the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden. This distinctive tree aloe has smooth branches, which are covered with a thin layer of whitish powder that helps to reflect away the hot sun's rays. The bark on the trunk forms beautiful golden brown scales, but beware, the edges of these scales are razor sharp. The crown is often densely rounded as a result of the repeatedly forked branches, hence the species name dichotoma. (dichotomous meaning forked). The blue-green leaves are borne on terminal rosettes, but in juvenile plants the leaves are ranked in vertical rows. The bright yellow flowers are borne from June to July. The young flower buds can be eaten and have a similar appearance and taste to asparagus. Sugar birds are drawn to these flowers in winter where they feed on the nectar produced by the flowers. Aloe dichotoma is an extremely tough tree that may reach an age of over 80 years and a height of approximately 7 metres. This species is a conspicuous component of the arid parts generally known as Namaqualand and Bushman land. It occurs in rocky areas, from near Nieuwoudtville northwards into Namibia and eastwards to Upington and Kenhardt. A common phenomenon in the branches of these trees is the huge communal nest of weavers that live and breed by the thousands. Here their young and unborn are safe from predators such as snakes and jackals.

USDA Zone - 10

Season to Sow - Autumn

Aloe is a genus containing about 500 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". The genus is native to Africa, and is common in South Africa's Cape Province, the mountains of tropical Africa, and neighbouring areas such as Madagascar, the Arabian peninsula, and the islands of Africa. Most Aloe species have a rosette of large, thick, fleshy leaves. The leaves are often lance-shaped with a sharp apex and a spiny margin. Aloe flowers are tubular, frequently yellow, orange, pink or red, and are borne, densely clustered and pendant, at the apex of simple or branched, leafless stems.

Aloe vaombe (Malagasy Tree Aloe) – Beautiful large unbranched succulent to 12 feet tall or more with large solitary rosettes up to 5 feet across of recurved long smooth green leaves that have whitish teeth. These leaves are cupped-shaped in cross section and take on rich red tones in winter. The fiery red flowers are borne in erect branched racemes in mid-winter.

USDA Zone - 11

Season to sow - Spring

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

This Southern Madagascar occurring species features deciduous leaves that are very long, narrow and green with a light grey felt covering, most notably on the undersides. The leaves have a much lighter middle vein that has a rose tint to it and are more upright than lamerii. The trunk is a smooth greyish silver and may reach 10 meters in time. Spines are in clusters of three and are sharp and strong. The flowers are white and relatively small with an exposed anther cone in the centre.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring

Pachypodium is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Africa. It belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae.

Horombense is a compact plant. The deciduous leaves are narrow, the leaves are dark green with a lighter middle vein and form a rosette around the tips of branches. The trunk is smooth with conical spines and is greenish silver. Branching occurs more frequently and may start from the base. This species has larger yellow flowers in clusters on fairly long peduncles. Horombense should be given full light and plenty of water during the warmer months and less water in the cool months.

USDA Zone - 9

Season to Sow - Spring