Never trust a gardener: Echeveria or Sempervivum?

[nachtkrabb]

Hi, folks,
this plant was sold to my by a herb nursery as a Sempervivum. Very well. But two days ago I saw something VERY similar here labelled as Echeveria.


So I read up a bit and found E.elegans discribed in an encyclopedia as if they wanted to talk about my plant. What do you think?
Thanks a bundle
Ruth

[hablu]

Here is E elegans to compare. Harry

[Buck Hemenway]

Ruth,

No question, it is an echeveria and looks like E. elegans. Who are you going to trust anyway?

[Paracelsus]

Your plant is an well grown and happy Echeveria. It is not a sempervivum.

Both genus' are commonly called 'hen and chicks' because of their prolific clustering of pups underneath the 'mother hen'. Unfortunately, that leads many to confuse two highly distinct genus'.

The highly variable growth form and color of Echeverias at different ages and seasons makes precise identification difficult. Many in cultivation are undocumented hybrids. Your plant may be E. elegans, but it looks like it has some other genes in the mix too.

[nachtkrabb]

Thanks everybody for the help! Now the most important information is: I've got to get the pot inside for winter, which I wouldn't do with a Sempervivum.

Paracelsus,
as English is a foreign language for me (as you might have noticed ), I didn't know the common name 'hen and chicks' of both kinds. But I like it!

Harry,
mine can't be an E.elegans as it hasn't such a lovely butterfly as yours....

Buck,
now should I start trusting you.....?

Ruth