Crassula

Plant Characteristics
Lifespan:	⌛	[[Lifespan::Perennial]]
Origin:	✈	S. Africa mostly

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	Sun"Sun" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property., part-sun, Indoors"Indoors" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	regular"regular" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property., drought tolerant"drought tolerant" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names
Crassulaceae >	Crassula >

Crassula is a large genus of plants containing many species, including the popular Jade Plant, Crassula ovata. They are native to many parts of the globe, but cultivated varieties are almost exclusively from the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Crassulas are usually propagated by stem or leaf cuttings. Most cultivated forms will tolerate some small degree of frost, but extremes of cold or heat will cause them to lose foliage and die.

Read about Crassula in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
Crassula (Latin thickish; referring to the thick leaves and stems). Crassulaceae. Fleshy and leafy greenhouse shrubs or herbs, grown for the grotesque appearance of some of the kinds and also for the bloom. Variable in habit and foliage, mostly erect; rarely annual: lvs. opposite, usually sessile and often connate, fleshy, very entire and the margins sometimes cartilaginous, glabrous or pubescent or scaly: fls. usually small, white, rose or rarely yellow, commonly in cymes but sometimes capitate, usually 5-merous; calyx 5-parted, the lobes erect or spreading; petals 5, free or joined at the base, erect or spreading; stamens 5, shorter than the petals; carpels 5, many-ovuled.— Species 150 or more, mostly in S. Afr., but a few in Abyssinia and Asia. Many species have been intro. to cult., but only a few are actually grown outside of fanciers' collections. The rocheas sometimes pass as crassulas. See Rochea. The genus Crassula gives the name to the order Crassulaceae, which contains many cultivated succulent plants, and also others of widely different habit. The order is closely related to the Saxifragaceae, but differs in having the carpels of the ovary entirely free and equal in number to the petals, but the formspass easily into the Saxifragacea; through Francoa and Tetilla, and back again through Triactina. The genera, as usually treated, are ill defined, and certain species of Sedum cross over the lines of Crassula, Cotyledon and Sempervivum, while between Crassula and Tillaea no very clear distinction can be made. Crassulas are greenhouse plants requiring a dry atmosphere during the resting-period. While making growth, they may be treated like other greenhouse plants in the way of watering, placing them in the lightest and airiest part of the house. The pots must be drained so that any surplus moisture will easily pass through. The soil should consist of sand, loam, broken brick, and a very small quantity of leaf-soil or thoroughly rotted cow-manure. Propagation is usually from cuttings. Some of the species, such as C. falcata, do not give much material for this purpose, and they should, therefore, be headed over and the tops put in dry sand in the spring, allowing water only when they show signs of shriveling. The cut-over plants should be encouraged to make side shoots, which may be rooted after they are large enough. (G. W. Oliver.) ^CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Pests and diseases

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Selected species

Crassula alba
Crassula alpestris
Crassula aquatica (Common Pigmyweed, Water Pygmyweed)
Crassula arborescens (Silver Dollar Plant, Beestebul)
Crassula ausensis
- Crassula ausensis ssp. titanopsis
Crassula bakeri
Crassula barklyi (Rattlesnake Tail, Wurmplakkie)
Crassula capitella
- Crassula capitella ssp. thyrsiflora (Aanteel-Poprosie)
Crassula clavata
Crassula coccinea
Crassula columella (Silinderplakkie)
Crassula columnaris (Koesnaatjie)

Crassula columnaris
Crassula colorata (Dense Stoncrop)
Crassula connata (Sand Pygmyweed)
Crassula corallina

Crassula lactea
Crassula cornuta
Crassula cultrata (Plakkiebos)
Crassula decidua (Norsveld Plakkie)
Crassula decumbens (Scilly Pigmyweed)
Crassula dejecta
Crassula deltoidea (Silver Beads, Gruisplakkie)
Crassula drummondii (Small-leaf Pygmyweed, Smallleaf Pygmyweed)
Crassula dubia
Crassula elegans (Elegant Crassula)
Crassula erosula
Crassula exilis
- Crassula exilis ssp. sedifolia
Crassula falcata
Crassula garibina
Crassula gillii

Crassula nealeana
Crassula globularioides
Crassula helmsii (Swamp Stonecrop)
Crassula herrei
Crassula hirtipes
Crassula humbertii
Crassula hystrix
Crassula lactea (Taylor's Parches, Krysna Crassula)
Crassula longipes (Smallseed Pygmyweed)
Crassula marchandii
Crassula marnierana
Crassula mesembryanthemoides
Crassula mesembryanthemopsis
Crassula milfordiae
Crassula moschata
Crassula multicava (Fairy Crassula)
Crassula muscosa (Rattail Crassula, Watch Chain, Lizard's Tail, Zipper Plant)
Crassula namaquensis
- Crassula namaquensis ssp. comptonii
Crassula nealeana
Crassula nudicaulis

Crassula nudicaulis var. herrei
- Crassula nudicaulis var. herrei
- Crassula nudicaulis var. platyphylla
Crassula obovata
- Crassula obovata var. dregeana
Crassula orbicularis
Crassula ovata (Jade Plant)
- Crassula ovata var. cristata
Crassula parvisepala
Crassula pedicellosa
Crassula pellucida
- Crassula pellucida var. marginalis
Crassula perfoliata
Crassula perforata (String of Buttons, Sosatieplakkie)
Crassula plegmatoides
Crassula pruinosa (Skurwemannetjie)
Crassula pubescens (Jersey Pigmyweed)
- Crassula pubescens ssp. rattrayi
Crassula pyramidalis

Crassula socialis
Crassula radicans (Red Carpet)
Crassula rogersii
Crassula rupestris (Rosary Plant, Kebab Bush, Inrygertjie)
- Crassula rupestris ssp. marnierana
Crassula saginoides (Wrinkle-seed Pygmyweed, Wrinkleseed Pygmyweed)
Crassula sarcocaulis (Bonsai Crassula)
Crassula sarmentosa
Crassula schmidtii
Crassula sericea
- Crassula (sericea var. ) hottentotta
Crassula sieberiana (Siberian Pygmyweed)
Crassula socialis
Crassula solierii (Smoothseed Pygmyweed)
Crassula streyi

Crassula tecta (syn. 'C. deceptor)
Crassula susannae
Crassula tecta
Crassula tetragona
Crassula tillaea (Moss Pygmyweed)
Crassula viridis (Pricklyseed Pygmyweed
Crassula volkensii

Notable cultivars

Crassula 'Buddha's Temple'
Crassula 'Coralita'
Crassula 'Dorothy'
Crassula 'Fallwood'
Crassula 'Ivory Pagoda'
Crassula 'Justus Corderoy'
Crassula 'Morgan's Beauty'
Crassula 'Tom Thumb'

SCH^CH List:

C. atrosanguinea, Barbey. Erect, 12-20 in., rigid: st. reddish, branched at top: lvs. aloe-like, straight or recurved, glabrous, narrowed from base to apex, often 8 in. long, rosulate and on the St.: fls. darkred, in a dense terminal many-fld. cluster. Transvaal.^CH
C. coccinea. Linn.=Rochea coccinea.^CH
C. congesta, N. E. Br. Only 3½ in. high: lvs. thick and fleshy, ovate-lanceolate: fls. numerous, densely crowded in a sessile terminal head, the petals scarcely Min. long, white. S. Afr.^CH
C. conjuncta, N. E. Br. Lvs. concave: fls. pure white in a compact narrow cluster. 8. Afr.^CH
C. decipiens, N. E. Br. Dwarf tufted perennial: lvs. densely covered with blunt papillae or nipple-like projections, fleshy, oblong: fls. very small, white, in terminal 3-branched cymes. S. Afr. (?).^CH
C. jasminea, Ker-Gawl=Rochea jasminea.^CH
C. sedifolia, N. E. Br. Only 1-2 in. high when in bloom: lvs. in small tufts at the base and 3 or 4 pairs on the fl.-sts., bright green, ciliate, with red-brown spots along the margin: fls. white, 3-fl together in terminal cymes. S. Afr.^CH
C. variabilis, N. E. Br. Plant 3-6 in. high, branched at base: lvs. in 4 rows, densely imbricated, ovate, small (½in. or less long), ciliate on margin: fls. white, or red outside, 5-7 in small cymes disposed in a narrow terminal panicle. S. Afr.^CH