Duvalia sulcata, a rare and beautiful succulent

Duvalia sulcata is a perennial and herbaceous succulent plant native to South Africa, but widely cultivated around the world as a collection specimen. It is appreciated mainly for its large flowers (it is one of the species with the largest flowers in the genus), its peculiar stems and easy care. It is one of the most sought after species of the genus by collectors.

Stems and leaves
This species develops semi-erect fleshy stems with a very narrow base and widening quite a bit in the erect area, that is, the region that joins the stems is quite small compared to the end of the stem. Each stem has 4-5 poorly defined and sometimes curved vertical ribs. On the margin of the ribs there are conspicuous conical tubercles of +/- 0.5 cm long that end in linear green leaves. The stems have a green base color with numerous darker, almost brown spots dispersed heterogeneously; This coloration is typical of the stems of this species.

Flowers
The flowers of this plant are among the largest known in the Duvalia genus and one of the most beautiful. They are arranged in extra-axillary inflorescences that appear in lower areas of the growing stems. Each inflorescence generally develops a single flower entirely. These flowers are supported by a large pedicel +/- 4 cm long that ends in 5 triangular sepals; The petiole has a greenish yellow color with darker spots similar to those present on the stems.

The floral corolla is made up of 5 triangular and fleshy lobes (petals) that are arranged forming a star. These lobes have the entire margin with numerous brown vibrating hairs in the lower half, a reddish-brown coloration and numerous grooves on the surface.

In the center of the flowers you can see the pollinarium with a highly developed gynostegium that is surrounded by a conspicuous and fleshy annulus. The internal crowns are spatulate and globose with a cream color; the external crowns welded forming a ring. Numerous white filaments are observed around the external crowns. The external crowns have a color similar to the internal ones with some scattered reddish spots. The pollinia are small and have a brownish yellow color. There are genotypes of this species that may present variations in the color of the flowers and may not have the hairy annulus (var. seminuda).

Source: Duvalia sulcata (Spanish version)