Often misspelled (tortulosum), Aichryson tortuosum is a small, very ornamental, perennial shrublet 10-15(-20) cm tall with dense tortuous branches, hence the specific name. It has crowded, fleshy and pubescent (downy) leaves in dense rosettes looking like a miniature Aeonium lindleyi.
The small yellow flowers in a lax inflorescence typically have seven or eight petals.
This neat little plant is the old and long-known Sempervivum tortuosum. It is quite variable and, as for most members of Aichryson, the true, unhybridized species is rarely seen in cultivation. Stems: c. 5 mm thick, hairy, often glabrous below, Branches woody, tortuous, divaricate.