I came across a couple of interesting posts on 'Oddity' this morning, discussing the leaves going from tubular to flat and back again. I haven't experienced this on my Oddities and was wondering if any of you have. Check these out....

http://www.choosingvoluntarysi...

http://www.choosingvoluntarysi...

Very interesting article Chris.
I have had some normal offsets appear on my Oddity, but so far they have not reverted back to the tubes. I'll have to keep an eye on them to see if the tubes open and close.

Interesting. I hadn't paid that much attention to my Oddity so I went outside and looked. Some are tubes and some are blades (open tubes). The bigger ones tend to be blades. I'll take a picture now and compare with later.
And it looks like I have one offset that has reverted to a regular looking semp. Maybe I'll separate that one and watch it rather than toss it into the common semp pile like I usually do.

I found some very interesting information on both S. 'Oddity' and S. 'Grigg's Surprise'.

Both are considered to be what is called a "quilled' type sempervivum:

Grigg's Surprise is a var. from Europe and is considered to be a mutation. No history on what semp it mutated from. It has grey/green leaves that are hollow tubes without an opening at the tip. Each leaf ends in a red, thorn like tip that is often double, like an open bird's beak. The leaves are minutely hairy, especially near the tip.
This is according to the writings of Helen Payne in here wonderful book 'Plant Jewels of the High Country'. She goes on to say that it take a very good eye or magnifying glass to see the intricate details.

Oddity is a mutation from S. albidum. Green with deep purple tips. Base leaves are curled under. The rest of the leaves are tube-like and open at the end like the lower part of a feather.


We should have a much easier time now knowing which of the two plants we are looking at.

Oddity with open quilled ends----Grigg's Surprise with hairy leaves and closed quilled ends.

Nice comparison with the two pictures together too!

Audrey was looking at both of mine and said they definitely looked different to her. I find them to be two different colors as well as shape. - Grigg's Surprise is more blue green like a calcareum.

I think the shape is different too as they mature.

Yes - quite different.

Tabby can you post a picture of your great clump of Grigg's Surprise?

I still haven't taken a picture of my big clump yet.

But I was out in the garden and it seemed to me that Grigg's Surprise reminded me more of S. pittonii than S. Oddity.

Griggs's Surprise, S. pittonii, Oddity

Great comparison photos Tabby. I agree, it does look like it could be of pittonii heritage. : )
S. pittonii

I planted my oddity from my wonderful box of babies from Lynn next to my Griggs surprise from Timberline Nursery.

Now we will watch how they grow. I know I need to add some top dressing to the pot and will do so tomorrow.

Great experiment Sis. It will be so much fun watching them grow up together. Wonderful way to observe the differences.

I need to go out and see how mine are doing.

Well, I'm wondering if I have an Oddity that is getting ready to bloom. I have had these for years, but never noticed any blooming ones.


See the pic. I don't know if this is just an oddly growing offset or if it is getting ready to bloom. Opinions? Never having seen a blooming one, its hard for me to tell. The stem/spike shown in the picture appears to come from one of the 3 more normal looking plants that developed this spring, which I originally thought was a reversion back to its normal form. However, over time they have come to look more like Oddity should normally.

Oh my, that does look odd.
The stalk has branches. Can we see a photo of the parent rosette?

Will try. They are densely packed and I don't want to damage or disturb the stack as it looks brittle. The branches are why I think it may be a flower stalk.

I agree with you on the branching. This will be so interesting to follow. I went out and looked at mine, so far no sign of anything unusual going on.
The clump is getting quite large.

I looked at it and took some more photos for later. Can't see it on the photos, but the stalk is emerging from an apparently dead rosette. That was not one of the three weird ones, but just beside them. I'm wondering if the weird ones came from the same rosette earlier in the year. No way to tell at this point. Took a couple of the larger rosettes for a second planting at another location. They are drying at the moment.

I still don't see any sign of my normal offsets from last year, morphing to oddity. How long does that take twit?

Just noticed mine this year, first time I've seen normal ones. They are slowly forming tubes, but so far look halfway inbetween.