What is the difference between Purple Velvet (Aeonium 'Zwartkin') and Black Rose (Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop')? A quick guide to tell them apart

As succulents become more and more popular, more and more people are growing them, and more and more new succulent varieties are being introduced. Many succulent varieties look similar, making them hard to tell apart, such as the Purple Velvet and Black Rose we are introducing today, two plants that many people cannot distinguish. Below, Qinnong Web will introduce the difference between Purple Velvet and Black Rose.

First, let us introduce the Purple Velvet. This is also why the Purple Velvet and Black Rose look so alike: the Purple Velvet is a manually cultivated variety, a succulent bred by artificial hybridization, and its parent is the Black Rose, so it is not surprising that the Black Rose and Purple Velvet look alike. But currently the Purple Velvet sells for a higher price than the Black Rose, and many unscrupulous sellers, seeing that people generally cannot tell these two plants apart, pass off Black Rose as Purple Velvet to profit. It follows that if you want to grow Purple Velvet, you must first learn to distinguish these two plants. So what are their differences?

1. Smell

This is a very easy way to distinguish Purple Velvet from Black Rose: smell it. Touch the leaves with your hand and then smell them. Some say it is a fragrance, others say it is a foot odor; the one with a smell is the Purple Velvet, while the Black Rose has no smell when smelled. But also pay attention to whether the smell has been artificially added.

2. Look at the leaves

Look at the surface of their leaves: the surface of the Purple Velvet has a layer of fuzz-like material, but the Black Rose does not, being relatively smooth. In addition, the Purple Velvet's leaves are larger and rounder, while the Black Rose's leaves are relatively narrower and longer. However, this feature can only be used as a supplementary judgment, because under different care conditions the plant shape will differ somewhat.

3. Difference in color

This is the last trick for distinguishing Purple Velvet from Black Rose: by observing the difference in their leaf color. In summer the Purple Velvet's leaves are black, and by autumn they turn coffee red, while the Black Rose is black, just as its name suggests.

The above is what Qinnong Web has introduced about the difference between Black Rose and Purple Velvet. Have you grasped it? In fact, many sellers also hybridize the Purple Velvet again, and Qinnong Web thinks that when growing plants, as long as you like them it is fine; there is no need to specifically pursue a variety, as liking them yourself matters more than anything.