Greek grapho — write, petalon — petal, referring to the banded and mottled petals.
Fleshy perennial herbs and subshrubs. Leaves alternate, generally in rosettes, not deciduous. Flower clusters of several alternating branches. Flowers with 5 non-reflexed sepals, 5-7 petals united at the base, pale-coloured with red or brown spotting, stamens 5-10, bending outwards. Carpels upright with short styles.
About 12 species from S USA and Mexico.
Cuttings and detached leaves.
Very closely related to Tacitus from which it differs in having petals that are red or brownspotted and sepals closely adpressed to the corolla. Very similar to Echeveria but with more open flowers, the petals spreading from the middle, and the red or brown spots in more or less transverse rows.
Walther (1930, includes key to species), Kimnach &Moran (1986), Hart & Eggli (1995).
Source: (2002). Crassulaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.