ISI 2026-28. xSedeveria 'Harry Butterfield'.
Harry Morton Butterfield (1888-1970) was a noted horticulturist and floriculturist with the UC Extension at Berkeley in the 1920s but is better known in the cactus and succulent world as a hybridizer of Echeveria. Perhaps his most enduring legacy is having this hybrid named for him. Dick Wright, also a noted Echeveria hybridizer, created the hybrid by crossing Sedum morganianum E.Walther (2n = 70) with Echeveria derenbergii J.A.Purpus (2n = 27). The discrepancy in chromosome numbers explains why the Sedum parent, the common "donkey's tail", seems to dominate in the hybrid such that it is commonly known as the super donkey's tail and is often confused with the parent species. It does resemble a robust S. morganianum and will produce pendent stems covered with overlapping, lanceolate, acute leaves, but these stems will only arch over the edge of a pot by a few inches while S. morganianum can form curtains of straight, hanging branches to 3' (a meter) or more. There are said to be two clones of this cross in cultivation, one with pinkish flowers, the other with pale yellow flowers. The latter is the most common and can be considered the "true" xSedeveria 'Harry Butterfield'. It is offered here to clarify the distinction between the species Sedum and its hybrid, and to honor both Harry Butterfield and Dick Wright who is still hybridizing succulents in Fallbrook, CA, at the age of 97 and a half! Perhaps he has hit on the key to longevity, and certainly posterity, by creating so many interesting hybrids worth growing. Rooted cuttings of HBG 54005, received January 7, 1985, from succulent collector Shirley Berry of Rancho Santa Fe, CA.
Photo © 2026 by John Trager.
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