Origin:
Chinese mutation that appeared on Aeonium ‘Mardi Gras’, called 红覆轮锦 in Chinese sources. Its direct lineage is: Aeonium ‘Mardi Gras’ → Aeonium ‘Pink Daisy’.

Known names:
Pink Daisy — main Western name; Fendai; Fen Dai; 粉黛; 粉黛法师 / 粉黛法師; Firefly; Yinghuo; 萤火 / 螢火 — first Chinese name; Candy Fendai; 糖果粉黛.

Date of creation / Creator:
First appearances and naming in 2018, in China. Cultivar publicly documented by April 19, 2019 at the latest. Its Western commercialization came later.

The name Fendai was given by 丽江养花姑娘 — Lijiang Yanghua Guniang, a producer or collector from Lijiang in Yunnan. Several similar appearances were reported in China in 2018, so the identity of a single discoverer remains uncertain.

Botanical description

The Aeonium ‘Pink Daisy’ is a variegated shrubby Aeonium that comes from a mutation of the Aeonium ‘Mardi Gras’. It’s one of the most iconic cultivars of this lineage thanks to its spectacular color changes throughout the seasons and its remarkable ability to produce secondary mutations.

During the winter growing period, when the light is moderate, its foliage shows a wide green central band, streaked with darker lines that can turn almost black. This central area is bordered by wide creamy-yellow margins, which quickly take on pinkish tones as the light intensity increases.

With the arrival of spring and then summer, under the combined effect of strong light, high temperatures, and a slight water stress, the plant gradually transforms. The cream edges slowly disappear in favor of a deep pink, while the central green band darkens significantly, offering a particularly striking contrast.

This seasonal change makes ‘Pink Daisy’ one of the Aeoniums variegata with the most pronounced color changes.

A particularly unstable variety

The main feature of the Aeonium ‘Pink Daisy’ is its high genetic instability.

This instability regularly causes partial reversions of the Poker Face type, a phenomenon now well-known in the world of Aeonium variegata.

These reversions show up as irregular green patches on part or all of the leaves of some rosettes. Depending on how significant this reversion is, several forms are distinguished.

When only certain parts of the leaves randomly turn green again, the plant is called a ‘Glowworm‘. The colors then become much more contrasting, with alternating green, pink, and cream giving each rosette a completely unique look.

When the reversion is complete and the entire rosette turns green-dominant, it’s known as a ‘Meteor‘.

It’s not uncommon to observe, on the same plant, rosettes typical of ‘Pink Daisy’, rosettes of ‘Glowworm’, and others of ‘Meteor’. This coexistence of multiple genetic expressions on a single plant is one of the most fascinating features of this cultivar.

Cultivation and behavior

The Aeonium ‘Pink Daisy’ is a vigorous variety whose cultivation remains fairly easy despite its instability.

Its main horticultural characteristics are as follows:

Growth: active;
Ability to produce offsets: excellent;
Vigor: high;
Fragility: no particular weakness observed, except for its natural sensitivity to frost.

Its strong ability to produce new rosettes also promotes the appearance of new mutations and reversions, which explains the extreme diversity of subjects observed in cultivation.

Mutations of Aeonium ‘Pink Daisy’

Glowworm

Other known names: Firefly, Pink &Black Firefly.

Aeonium ‘Glowworm’ corresponds to the Poker Face form of ‘Pink Daisy’.

The main difference between the two cultivars lies in the stability of their coloration.

In ‘Pink Daisy’, the color distribution is relatively even across the entire rosette. In contrast, ‘Glowworm’ shows large green patches that appear randomly on the leaves, creating a very striking contrast between the green, pink, and cream areas.

Each rosette thus has a unique pattern, which explains collectors’ enthusiasm for this particularly decorative mutation.

Meteor

When the reversion becomes almost complete and chlorophyll takes over the whole rosette, it is referred to as ‘Meteor’.

This form represents the most advanced expression of the reversion phenomenon observed in ‘Pink Daisy’.

A major cultivar of the ‘Mardi Gras’ line

The Aeonium ‘Pink Daisy’ is now considered one of the most important cultivars derived from Aeonium ‘Mardi Gras’. Its extraordinary ability to spontaneously generate different expressions of its variegation, combined with its particularly spectacular seasonal variations, makes it a must-have variety for any Aeonium variegata collector.

By itself, it perfectly illustrates the evolutionary potential of horticultural mutations developed in China over the past few years.

PHOTOS SEASON WINTER/SPRING

PHOTOS SUMMER SEASON

PINK DAISY MUTATIONS

GLOWWORM
Other names given: Firefly, Pink & Black Firefly
This is the Poker Face version of Pink Daisy.
The difference between Glowworm and Pink Daisy is that Pink Daisy’s color is uniform, while Glowworm leaves have randomly green parts.