| + | Usually robust erect plants: lvs. opposite, fleshy, sessile or stalked, varying from entire to crenate and pinnatifid: fls. yellow, purple or scarlet, in many-fld. terminal paniculate cymes, rather large and often showy; calyx 4-parted, the narrow lobes shorter than the corolla-tube, usually falling early; corolla 4-parted and mostly spreading, the tube usually urn-shaped; stamens 8: carpels, 4.—More than 100 species, in. the Old World tropics and in S. Afr., and 1 reported from brazil. A few species are prized by amateurs. The fls. are lasting in bouquets. For the general handling of this class of plants, see Succulents; also cotyledon and crassula. They prop, readily by seeds and cuttings. |