Othonna cacalioides

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Native to the quartz fields of the Bokkeveld in South Africa, Othonna caclioides is a miniature winter-growing caudiciform that develops an improbably potato-like tuber, topped wit h clusters of tiny, glaucous blue leaves. Newcomers tend to read it as cute almost immediately, without being able to point to a specific reason why. In habitat it grows in seasonally flooded areas and, immediately after rainstorms, can be found completely submerged and sometimes briefly frozen. The surrounding environment dries quickly, however, and plants are never underwater or encased in ice for long. In milder climates this species can be kept growing year-round, though it shows a clear preference for summer dormancy. Plants flower freely in fall and spring, producing numerous small, yellow, daisy-like blooms on short, solitary stalks. Growth is relatively slow, as with most dwarf Othonna, and mature plants take many years to develop, rarely exceeding a handful of inches across. Show more