Curio radicans (L.f.) P.V.Heath, syn. Senecio radicans L.f., is the string of bananas or creeping berry. It is closely related to string of pearls but grows faster, roots more aggressively, and handles occasional mistakes. If you are new to trailing Curio, start here rather than with C. rowleyanus.
The species is native to the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, where it grows as a ground-hugging creeper on rocky slopes in partial shade. Part of the Complete Senecio Guide.
Identification
- Trailing stems to 90 cm or longer, thicker and glossier than C. rowleyanus.
- Leaves crescent-shaped, 2–3 cm long, tapered at both ends, with a subtle longitudinal translucent stripe.
- White to cream flower heads on short erect stalks, cinnamon-scented.
- Stems root readily from any node that touches soil.
The leaf shape is diagnostic. If the leaves are true bananas or crescents, you have C. radicans. Confusion is most often with C. herreianus (pointed-oval leaves, sometimes called string of watermelons) and hybrids like string of dolphins (Curio × peregrinus), whose leaves have a distinct middle-finned shape.
Cultivation
Cultivation matches the pillar's general Senecio / Curio guidance closely, with a single difference worth noting: the watering window is wider than for string of pearls. A pot of C. radicans will forgive an extra week of neglect or an occasional thorough soaking that would kill C. rowleyanus outright. Use the same free-draining mineral mix, the same bright indirect light, and the same shallow wide pot, but allow yourself a little slack.
Outdoor tolerance is also better. In a Mediterranean or USDA zone 10 garden it grows freely as a ground cover on banks and low walls, flowering through late winter. Below 2 °C the trailing stems burn at the tips but the root crown usually survives.
Propagation
Take cuttings 15–20 cm long. Callus for 1–2 days. Coil on the surface of mineral substrate and pin lightly at each node, or simply lay the strand on top and let gravity do the job. New root initials appear within ten days, and a tight mat of new growth fills a 15 cm pot in about three months.
Division of older clumps works equally well. Lift the plant, tease apart a section with attached roots, and replant at the same depth.
Notes and quirks
This species flowers more freely indoors than most Curio if given enough direct morning sun in winter. The capitula are small but the cinnamon-vanilla scent is strong for the flower size. Spent stalks should be cut off at the base once bloom finishes.
Look out for a variegated cultivar, Curio radicans 'Variegatus', with cream streaks along the crescent leaves. It is stable in cultivation, slower than the plain green form, and markedly more sensitive to direct sun.
Mildly toxic to pets on ingestion, as with the rest of the genus.
See also
- Senecio rowleyanus — string of pearls, the trickier cousin.
- Senecio peregrinus — string of dolphins, the intergeneric hybrid.
- Senecio jacobsenii — trailing jade, a broader-leaved trailer.