Another day, another opportunity to discover beautiful plant life that I didn’t know existed previously but now that I do, I desperately need in my life. Today, we’re talking about mermaid tail succulents. They earned their name by looking like — you guessed it! — a mermaid’s tail. While they’re incredibly rare, they’re bound to bring that deep sea energy right to your garden if you can find one!
- Technically speaking, they’re called crested senecio vitalis. The “crested” part is important here because without it, the senecio vitalis is just a regular ol’ succulent with some cool but decidedly less unique spikes. The crest is what makes it spread out and look like a mermaid’s tail!
- The mermaid tail succulent is actually a happy accident on nature’s behalf. The mutation on display in this plant is known as fasciation, a process that causes a root, stem, or flower head to flatten and spread outwards rather than upwards. We’d have no mermaid tail without it!
- They’re rare because there’s no guarantee of growing one. While you can occasionally find full-grown (or at least already crested) mermaid tail succulents on Etsy and the like, generally speaking, seeds are sold for the original senecio vitalis plants. Yours may or may not go through the fasciation process, resulting in the crested look. You’ll just have to take your chances!
- However, your chances are pretty solid. The best you can hope for with your plant, if growing from scratch or root, is knowing that they “often” produce crests, according to Mondo Cactus, which sells them. In a way, it’s sort of fun taking your chances since even if you don’t end up with a mermaid tail succulent, you will end up with another plant to add to your collection that’s still pretty great in its own right. Worth a try, right? More sellers are available HERE.
