Stems short. Numerous offsets formed. Leaves in basal rosettes, spoon- to wedgeshaped, blunt, waxy-blue, thin, hardly keeled, to about 5 cm long, 2 cm wide, with a sharp tip, occasionally with a red margin. Flowers about 1 cm long, red outside, yellow inside and at the apices, the tube narrowing at the mouth, in clusters of 5-15 on stems to 30 cm long. (Syn. E. glauca Bak.)
This appears to be the most commonly used of the blue-leaved, rosette-forming bedding succulents. There are many similar cultivars and species and the cultivars of ×Graptoveria further complicate identification.
There are a number of other blue-leaved species available including the following: E. agavoides Lem. from Mexico has elongated, narrow-pointed leaves resembling those of Agave; E. derenbergii J.A. Purpus, Painted Lady, from Mexico is in rosettes to about 8 cm wide but with numerous offsets, the leaves with a short reddish brown point extending round the edges, the flowers yellow with the reverse and tip red; E. elegans Rose, Mexican Gem (Mexican Snowball), grows in rosettes to 10 cm with the leaves pale blue, turned upwards, margins translucent and flowers deep pink with yellow apices and yellow-orange inside; E. fulgens Lam. from Mexico has long, sometimes wavy-edged leaves 9-15 cm long with stalk-like bases; E. peacockii Croucher from Mexico has pale blue, mealy-white, sharp-pointed leaves in dense rosettes about 10 cm. Flowers with petals about 1 cm long, reddish pink with waxy covering. Other species and cultivars found for sale in nurseries include: E. albicans, E. 'Paul Banyon', E. 'Emerald Ripple' and E. 'Violet Queen'.
Mexico.
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. (as Echeveria secunda var. glauca)
