Echeveria plants are
evergreen. Flowers on short stalks (cymes) arise from compact rosettes of
succulent fleshy, often brightly coloured leaves. Species are
polycarpic, meaning that they may flower and set seed many times over the course of their lifetimes. Often, numerous
offsets are produced, and are commonly known as "
hen and chicks", which can also refer to other genera, such as
Sempervivum, that are significantly different from
Echeveria. Many species of
Echeveria serve important environmental roles, such as those of
host plants for
butterflies. For example, the butterfly
Callophrys xami uses several species of
Echeveria, such as
Echeveria gibbiflora, as suitable host plants. Even more, these plants are integral to the oviposition process of
C. xami and some other butterfly species as well. ==Etymology==