16 Types of Monilaria: Bunny Succulents [With Pictures]
The plant genus Monilaria belongs to the Aizoaceae family or the fig-marigold family. The Monilaria are succulents native to South Africa.
This genus has 16 types of species, listed below. Through this informative post, we will find out more about the plants as well as how to grow and care for them.
Contents
Are Bunny Succulents Real?
Bunny succulents are real plants that recently gained popularity online. Mainly, two of the Monilaria species are referred to as bunny succulents, namely Monilaria obconica and Monilaria moniliformis, because their two leaves resemble a bunny’s ears.
However, they are rare to find locally even though their seeds are quite popular online. Buying the seeds will require you to grow them on your own. Finding a mature plant is a bit more difficult due to its slow growth.
Further, the bunny ears don’t last forever. Eventually, they grow bigger and sprout white flowers.
Types of Monilaria Succulents
There are 16 types of Monilaria succulents:
- Monilaria brevifolia
- Monilaria chrysoleuca
- Monilaria globosa
- Monilaria luckhoffii
- Monilaria microstigma
- Monilaria moniliformis
- Monilaria obconica
- Monilaria peersii
- Monilaria pisiformis
- Monilaria polita
- Monilaria primosii
- Monilaria ramulosa
- Monilaria salmonea
- Monilaria scutata
- Monilaria vestita
- Monilaria watermeyeri
Read also:
1,000 Types of Succulents with Pictures
How Do You Grow Monilaria?
Let’s take a look at some of the methods and steps involved in growing Monilaria.
- You will first need to source the seeds online.
- Once you obtain the seeds, prepare a potting mix that includes sand, soil and perlite. In essence, this mix should have an excellent drainage capacity. You must also add a loam compost for drainage.
- Pour this mix in a large enough pot and situate this pot in a place that gets bright and regular but indirect sunlight. There should also be plenty of ventilation. Autumn would be the best time to sow the seeds.
- Water this plant regularly except when it goes dormant and wait for it to dry out before watering again.
- Usually, succulents tend to go dormant in winters while growing in warmer seasons. However, these bunny succulents do most of their growing in winter while going dormant in the summer. Because of this, they are more tolerant of cold temperatures but this does not mean that you can leave them out in the cold. The ideal temperature is about 20℃.
- You must also keep fertilizing regularly. Once these plants start growing, you can also transplant them to another pot.
- Monilaria will take quite a bit of time to form clusters and to start growing properly. These plants require plenty of patience to grow to their full potential. However, eventually, they will form their bunny ears that will then grow bigger and bloom flowers.
You can also simply grow these plants using cuttings and planting them in a soil mix. You will need to source a mature plant for this purpose, which is difficult to do unless you have grown one yourself. (You can try your luck here: 13 Best Places to Buy Succulents Online)
How Big Do Bunny Succulents Get?
Bunny succulents take a few years to grow and reach their full potential. Initially, these succulents grow a pair of green leaves on a round head. During their dormant period, these leaves will wither a bit and the plant may look dead, but it will revive once the summer dormancy stage is over.
These keep growing until the plant reaches a height of about 8 inches. These leaves will also bloom into white flowers that have a yellow center.
The Final Word
You now know nearly everything about growing and caring for Monilaria or bunny succulents.
Remember, you will need to source the seeds online and ensure a good condition for them to grow in. These succulents lie dormant in summer and do most of their growing in colder temperatures.
So, go ahead and enjoy growing those bunny ears!