Beautiful Black Succulents

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Okay, do black succulents even exist? The answer is YES, and they are gorgeous in their dark color, from black to purple-black. The best part is you can grow them in the comfort of your home. Here are some of our favorites.

13 Gorgeous Black Succulent You Can Grow At Home

Echeveria ‘Black Prince’ 

Echeveria ‘Black Prince’

The Mexican hens, chicks, or Echeveria black prince is one spectacular display with a deep lavender brown color that nearly looks black. It produces a three-inch wide rosette with a deep green shade. The other colors become more prominent as it matures.

The leaves are wide and pointy and go by the name black knight. The Echeveria black prince does not enjoy cold weather and grows best indoors to overwinter. You can also propagate it through a leaf or stem cuttings.

The best place for your black prince is in bright indirect light with pleasantly warm temperatures. If you live in a warm area, you can best treat this gorgeous beauty as an outdoor plant.

Aeonium arboreum‘Zwartkop’

Aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop’

This is a distinctive succulent with the name Zwartkop nicknamed after the Black Rose Aeonium. It is one showstopper with large rosettes that look like flowers. Those dark deep red tint leaves are magnificent, and it blooms yellow flowers in winter.

The best for your black rose succulent is well-draining soil and keeping it in full sun to keep that color dark. You can grow this beauty year-round outside when you live in the USDA hardiness zone nine to eleven.

Sinocrassula yunnanensis ‘Chinese Jade’ Sinocrassula yunnanensis ‘Chinese Jade’

While the majority of these species are green, this one is black. Yes, looking at the name, it is a mouthful, but it remains small and compact. The Chinese Jade has pointy leaves that grow upwards.

The entire succulent spreads through pups or offsets to create clumps of spiky rosettes. You can find it in a green and black succulent plant. It is an easy-going plant that needs bright light using the soak and dry method to water.

Echinopsis ancistrophora ‘Arachnacantha’

Yes, we have a lot of tongue twisters here, but those spidery patterns look fabulous. It is one spooky cactus that crawls with spidery thorns. The more bright sunlight it gets, the color intensifies. The cactus makes an excellent display for those Halloween nights when cold.

But keep it indoors as it does not like the cold as it goes dormant in winter. Yet, it takes up little space.

Sempervivum‘Black’ 

Sempervivum ‘Black

When you look at the black succulents, it is not true black, but close enough. Yet, the deep purple-to-red coloring gives it a grim look, as with most black plants. The rosette is bright green in the middle with that dramatic burgundy foliage.

It is labeled as black chicks and hens at garden centers. These are hardy plants with dark leaves that can tolerate poor nutrient soils to drought. The moody plant can even take cold weather.

One thing that differs from these dark succulents is that it dies after blooming, but it does grow offsets for you to replant.

Haworthia marxii

Haworthia marxii

This is one rare plant to find and the most difficult to propagate as it rarely grows from the leaf cuttings you take from the mother plant. The plant mostly self-propagates from seed and needs a lot of shade growing in container gardens. Compared to most succulents, it also requires more water.

Echeveria ‘Black Queen’

One cannot mention the Echeveria black prince without mentioning the black queen. The royal succulent is more red-black than purple-black. As with several species, the hybrid is a pairing of the Echeveria and Black Rose Aeonium. When stressed, the color becomes more intense.

Haworthiopsis nigra – Black Haworthia

Haworthiopsis nigra – Black Haworthia

Another favorite black succulent is the Black Haworthis. Looking at the plant, you see alternating leaves building a tower with visible bumps and structured edges. The black coloration is fabulous, while the inner parts are green. During winter, it does another color-changing trick by going blushing red.

Echeveria Dark Moon

The dark moon has a bluish tinge compared to other Echeveria plants, with a green hue in the center. The leaves form elongated giving it a quill-like appearance. Hence, it adds an interesting contrast to this place when grown in any garden.

The big surprise is that it blooms with red flowers that have a stunning appearance.

Haworthia nigra Var. diversifolia Black Haworthia, G.D. Rowley

The plant is black with hints of dark green and purple. Furthermore, what sets this succulent apart is the enormous bumps found on the leaves called tubercles, looking like fingerprints. The leathery leaf grows alternately from the first one giving it a pagoda look.

Sempervivum ‘Dark Beauty

Sempervivum ‘Dark Beauty

The succulents look like your rose in black color, and the rosette dies after it blooms. The rosette has a deep dark purple tint and is very fleshy and compact with tapered ends. With a quick look, you would think it is a purple artichoke with thicker leaves.

This plant produces pink and yellow blooms that stand out against the dark leaves.

Tephrocactus articulatus v. papyracanthus Paper Spine Cactus

Tephrocactus articulatus v. papyracanthus Paper Spine Cactus

This is a charming cactus with a paper-thin spine that grows out of a cone-shaped pine segment. The magical thing about the black succulent is that you never know what color you will get with the spines. The plant has a tan ribbon spine, but other varieties are available once with black spines.

The plant looks spooky as it has dead tree branches with bluish-green flesh.

Dyckia Black Saber Tooth

Dyckia Black Saber Tooth

Our last black succulents are the Dycia black saber tooth which does not store water in the leaves but stores it in the center of a reservoir. The plant has shallow roots, and it is a false succulent with jet-black leaves and a white spine found along the leaves.

When in bloom, the flowers are yellow, standing out against the black leaves.

Summary

These are some of the most striking contrast black succulent plants you can add to your home or garden. While some prefer partial sunlight, others enjoy basking in the sun. Some are frost-hardy, and others prefer overwintering indoors.

No matter your choice, they are all spectacular to add to your interior or exterior at Plantly.

Whether you want to buy, sell or simply reach out to other plant enthusiasts, Plantly is the right place to be!

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