Most Aeonium species are native to the Canary Islands, with a small number found in the Cape Verde Islands, Madeira, Morocco, and eastern Africas Semien Mountains of Ethiopia. Dry summers and winter rainfall is the norm for their native habitat. Some members of the genus are quite popular as garden and pot plants and have become naturalized in other parts of the world. Some species, however, are still quite rare in cultivation. There are also a number of very popular hybrids and cultivars available. In general, they are quite easy to care for, and their very hardiness makes them landscaping favourites in drier climes. They produce succulent rosettes of waxy leaves, generally at the end of naked stems. Depending on the plant, and the species, the leaves can have attractive variegations. The genus shows a wide variety of growth patterns, from the tall, branching Aeonium arboretum to the minute, spreading Aeonium sedifolium. Many species form low, spreading mats such as Aeonium haworthii, while others, like Aeonium nobile, form a single large, if not spectacular, rosette. Low-growing Aeonium species are Aeonium tabuliforme and Aeonium smithii. Some species are monocarpic, dying after they blossom. The plants are propagated by leaf cuttings, stem cuttings, and by seed. They are related to the genera Sempervivum, Aichryson and Monanthes, which is easy to see from their similar flower and inflorescences. Recently, the genus Greenovia has been placed within Aeonium. Aeonium belongs to the Crassulaceae family. Most species are autumn and spring growers, and should be watered and fed regularly at these periods. Autumn is also a good time for rooting cuttings.

Aeonium sedifolium is a small succulent plant that has delicate branching stems to not much more than 15cm tall and wide bearing small rosettes of 1cm long rounded sticky lime-green leaves streaked with red stripes that radiate upward in the rosette, unlike most of the larger flat topped Aeonium. In spring appear the bright yellow star-shaped flowers. Plant in full coastal sun to filtered light in a well-drained soil and protect from frost – seems hardy to short duration cold temperatures down to around -1.5°C. It has a summer dormancy where it is best kept fairly dry in shade though with some water it seems to keep its leaves – otherwise it will lose them. It makes an interesting addition to succulent pots or mixed planters or a small spot in the rock garden or used as a natural bonsai plant in a small pot. This plant is native to the Canary Islands.