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Muiria is a genus with one species, Muiria hortenseae, a rare dwarf succulent with a fuzzy body, native to a tiny area of the Little Karoo in South Africa. Note that the sources place it in the iceplant family (Aizoaceae), not the citrus family (Rutaceae) as the header states. Grow it in very gritty, fast-draining soil with sparing water.
Muiria hortenseae ("mouse-head") is a rare dwarf species of succulent plant of the iceplant family (Aizoaceae), indigenous to a very small area in the Little Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Muiria.
Muiria hortenseae is difficult to cultivate, as it requires sparing but steady watering throughout most of the year (a sharply contrasting opinion is that of Alfred Byrd Graf who recommends that Muiria hortenseae be watered only once a year), generous space for its large root system, and a rocky, gritty, extremely well-drained soil. Some cultivators also occasionally add one or two grains of salt to the soil surface to add an extremely slight salinity to the soil. It is also recommended to give it little to no water for a drought of a month or two, after it has flowered.
Propagation is usually by seed, and Muiria sometimes hybridises with Gibbaeum album, with which it shares its natural habitat in the Little Karoo.
Muiria is indigenous to a tiny arid area (c.300 mm annual rainfall) of the "Succulent Karoo" in the Western Cape, South Africa. Its habitat is the quartzite rubble that overlay clay soils on the low ridges near the Langeberg Mountains.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Muiria by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
