String-of-Pearls

Curio rowleyanus

''Curio rowleyanus'', syn. ''Senecio rowleyanus'', is a flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is a creeping, perennial, succulent vine native to the drier parts of southwest Africa. In its natural environment its stems trail on the ground, rooting where they touch and forming dense mats.
String of pearls flower lateral This succulent is native to South Africa where it trails on the ground and forms dense mats by rooting wherever they can. The spherical shape of the leaves is an adaptation to arid environments. They store water while exposing a minimum amount of surface area to the dry air and as a result, water loss is reduced. This is my first attempt at growing string of pearls - luckily, mine is doing very well outside, trailing down the pot beautifully, and currently flowering profusely. The flowers are very small, no more than 10 mm fully opened and stand proud from the leaves on stalks, which grow 90 degrees from the main stems. https://www.jungledragon.com/image/117662/string_of_pearls_succulent_flower.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/108660/string_of_pearls_succulent.html Asteraceae,Asterales,Australia,Curio rowleyanus,Flora,Geotagged,Rosary vine,Senecio rowleyanus,String-of-Pearls,Winter,botany,macro,new south wales,string of beads,string-of-pearls

Appearance

''Curio rowleyanus'' receives its common name from specialized leaves which are the size and shape of small peas .Its trailing stems can grow 2–3 feet. There is a small tip at the distal point of each leaf and a thin band of dark green tissue on the side known as a "window".

It blooms during the summer and, like all asterids, it has a compound flower. The trumpet shaped flower forms clusters of small white flowers with colorful stamens. The flower will last about a month and is said to smell like cinnamon and other spices.

The odd shape of the leaves is an adaptation to arid environments and allows for the storage of water while exposing a minimum amount of surface area per volume to the dry desert air. This greatly reduces water loss due to evaporation relative to the typical dorsi-ventrally flattened leaves of most angiosperms. Although its spherical leaf morphology contributes to minimizing water loss, it also dramatically reduces the area available for the absorption of light and could be potentially detrimental to the plant's rate of photosynthetic carbon assimilation.

An adaptation that may help compensate for this reduction in light interception is a narrow, translucent, crescent-shaped band of tissue on the adaxial side of the lamina. This specialized structure is known as an "epidermal window" and it allows light to enter and irradiate the interior of the leaf, effectively increasing the area of leaf tissue available for photosynthesis.

This is a trait shared with ''Curio radicans '', a close relative of ''Curio rowleyanus''. A similar morphology is observed in species of the genus ''Fenestraria'' as well as the species ''Haworthia cooperi'' and ''Frithia pulchra'', which grow underground and only expose their leaf tips to absorb light radiation.
String of pearls succulent flower This succulent is native to South Africa where it trails on the ground and forms dense mats by rooting wherever they can. The spherical shape of the leaves is an adaptation to arid environments. They store water while exposing a minimum amount of surface area to the dry air and as a result, water loss is reduced. This is my first attempt at growing string of pearls - luckily, mine is doing very well outside, trailing down the pot beautifully, and currently flowering profusely. The flowers are very small, no more than 10 mm fully opened and stand proud from the leaves on stalks, which grow 90 degrees from the main stems. https://www.jungledragon.com/image/108660/string_of_pearls_succulent.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/120572/string_of_pearls_flower_lateral.html Asteraceae,Asterales,Australia,Curio rowleyanus,Flora,Geotagged,Rosary vine,Senecio rowleyanus,String-of-Pearls,Winter,botany,macro,new south wales,string of beads,string of pearls,white flower

Naming

"String-of-beads" and several other common names are shared with ''Curio herreanus'', which has teardrop-shaped leaves, rather than spherical.
String of pearls succulent This succulent is native to South Africa where it trails on the ground and forms dense mats by rooting wherever they can. The spherical shape of the leaves is an adaptation to arid environments. They store water while exposing a minimum amount of surface area to the dry air and as a result, water loss is reduced. https://www.jungledragon.com/image/117662/string_of_pearls_succulent_flower_macro.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/120572/string_of_pearls_flower_lateral.html Asteraceae,Asterales,Australia,Curio rowleyanus,Flora,Geotagged,Macro,Rosary vine,Senecio rowleyanus,String-of-Pearls,Summer,australia,bead plant,botany,new south wales,string of beads,string of pearls,succulent

Defense

The vegetation of ''C. rowleyanus'' is somewhat poisonous and should not be consumed. In humans the string of pearls plant is rated as toxicity classes 2 and 4 by the University of California, Davis. Class 2 is defined by minor toxicity; ingestion of string of pearls may cause minor illnesses such as vomiting or diarrhea. Class 4 is defined by dermatitis; contact with the plant's sap may cause skin irritation or rash. Likewise, if consumed by animals it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, skin irritation or lethargy.

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderAsterales
FamilyAsteraceae
GenusCurio
SpeciesC. rowleyanus
Photographed in
Australia