Who knows the origin of String of Dolphins?

String of Dolphins -- The hottest plant

One of the ‘hottest’ plants is String of Dolphins – Senecio peregrinus.  Where did this come from?  Why had we not known about this novelty plant before?

The internet will tell you everything.  But what to believe?

              I don’t know if the stories of its origin are true.  One account is that it is a hybrid of two species and has a species name of peregrinus.  This is suspect, because hybrids of two species are conventionally given a hybrid name in single quotes; e.g.  Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’ is a hybrid of (Sinningia concinna X Sinningia muscicola).

            Perhaps, it is natural occurring species found in nature as Senecio peregrinus --- common name:  String of Dolphins.

            A counter argument is that it is a hybrid---- either natural occurring or man-made.  We have had hundreds of flowers go to seed, but have not seen any seedlings sprout, implying it may be sterile.  This is a common phenomenon of F1 hybrids of two species --- a sterile hybrid.

You are welcome to comment to give an accurate picture of String of Dolphins.

This novel plant is going to become a standard.  It would be nice to know its history.