Watch Chain

The watch chain earns its name from the geometric precision of its stems - tiny, scale-like leaves stack so tightly along each shoot that the effect is exactly like a miniature watch chain or zipper, and the texture is almost architectural up close. It's a succulent, a relative of jade and echeveria, and it asks for the same two things they do: bright direct sun and merciless restraint with the watering can.

In a sunny windowsill the stems grow upright and dense, forming a neat mounded clump. Give it less than a few hours of direct sun and the stems stretch and thin, losing the compact character that's the whole point. It occasionally throws tiny, inconspicuous yellow-green flowers in spring - easy to miss, but the fragrance is surprisingly strong for such a small plant.

Needs several hours of direct sun on a windowsill. In lower light the stems stretch and lose the tight, chain-like texture that makes this plant worth growing.