Pachyphytoides (engl. translation of van Keppel's article)

Summary of Van Keppel’s article

The hybrid has been made by De Smet ca. 1870. It must have been popular around 1930 in Europe as well as in USA, because it has been described by Berger (1930) and by Walther (1934). Since then it has disappeared from collections. At Van Keppel's time plants in Europe under this name were either Pachyphytum bracteosum, x Pachyveria 'Clavata' or another x Pachyveria.
In the collection at Wageningen Van Keppel found a plant with the name Echeveria opalina. He got some leaves, and when they had become adult plants Van Keppel thought that they would match fairly well the descriptions of x P. 'Pachyphytoides' given by Berger and Walther - with one exception: his plant didn't have petal appendages while Berger and Walther stated that the plant has petal appendages. (Morren didn’t mention appendages either but his description is rather summary.) For Van Keppel the existence of petal appendages depends on the cultivation conditions of a plant - they can disappear and grow again - so this feature doesn't seem to be of real importance to him.
Van Keppel says that x P. 'Pachyphytoides' is similar to x P. 'Clavata'. It differs from the latter by its very wide leaves (5cm in the upper half) and a violet red colour in spring. It differs from Pachyphytum bracteosum by the less thick and more flat leaves, the bi- or trifurcate inflorescence, the very large bracts in the lower part of the flower stem and the short, open rosette at the end of the stem.

Description:

Caulescent, 20 – 40 cm high, sparingly offsetting, short, open rosette at the top.
Leaves obovate – elongated to spatulate, 12 cm long, 5 cm wide in the upper half, blue green, reddish tinged, flat, carinate, specially older leaves ventrally with a light channel in the middle of the leaf.
Inflorescence 40 cm long, bi- or trifurcate, one sided raceme; lower bracts large, spured, upper bracts and flowers crowded together.
Flowers numerous, reddish, pedicel short; sepals longer than petals, more narrow and more acute than those of Pachyphytum bracteosum.

The plant resembles both parents: the habit and the colour of the leaves show Echeveria gibbiflora ‘Metallica’ while the flowers show Pachyphytum; the inflorescence and the form of the leaves are in between both parents.