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Crassula (Diminutive of crassus thick)
(diminutive of crassus, thick; alluding to the leaves and stems). Including Rochea, Septas (of Linnaeus), and Turgosea. ORD. Crassulaceoe. A genus of about 120 species of greenhouse fleshy shrubs or herbs, nearly all natives of the Cape of Good Hope, a few being Abyssinian and Himalayan. Calyx five-parted; lobes erect or spreading, much shorter than the petals; petals five, erect or spreading, free or connate at the base; stamens five; filaments shorter than the petals; scales five, varying in shape. Sometimes, though rarely, the parts of the flower, instead of being in fives, as described above, are in sixes and nines. Crassulas are very ornamental plants, with a grotesque appearance. They thrive in a mixture of sandy loam and brick rubbish, in well-drained pots. Propagated by cuttings, which should be taken off and laid for two or three days in the sun, to dry. All the species mentioned below are from South Africa.
C. acutifolia (acute-leaved). fl. white; cymes small, pedunculate. September. l. opposite, fleshy, terete, subulate, spreading, glabrous. Stem suffruticose, decumbent, branched, terete. 1795.
C. alpestris (alpine). fl. white; cymes terminal, few-flowered, corymbose. l. fleshy, connate, shortly cultrate, sub-acute, keeled, glabrous. Stem suffruticose, short, branched, with short internodes, nearly glabrous. h. 3in. to 4in. 1878.
C. arborescens (woody).* fl. rose-coloured, large; cymes panicled, trichotomous. May. l. opposite, roundish, mucronulate, fleshy, flat, glaucous, dotted above, glabrous. Stem shrubby, erect, terete. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1739. SYN. C. Cotyledon. (B. M. 384.) C. bibracteata (two-bracteate). fl. white; anthers sulphur-coloured. August and September. l. subulate, expanded, flat or furrowed above; bracts two on each peduncle. Plant effuse, shrubby, decumbent, rooting. h. 6in. 1823. C. Bolusii (Bolus's).* fl. pale flesh-colour. Summer. l. elliptic, lanceolate, fleshy, pale green, with dark, almost black, blotches. h. 3in. to 5in. 1875. Perennial herb. (B. M. 6194.) C. ciliata (ciliated).* fl. cream-coloured; corymbs terminal. July. l. oval, obtuse, flattish, distinct, ciliated; cilia white, cartilaginous, usually retrograde. Stem suffruticose, sparingly branched. h. 6in. 1732. C. coccinea (scarlet).* fl. scarlet; tube 1in. long. June to August. l. ovate-oblong, acutish, connate, and sheathing at the base. h. 1ft. to 3ft. Table Mountain, 1710. Shrub. SYN. Kalesanthes coccinea.(B. M. 495.) C. Cooperi (Cooper's).* fl. white, numerous, small. Winter. l. oblong lanceolate. Habit neat, trailing. 1862. (R. G. 786.) C. cordata (heart-shaped). fl. reddish; cymes panicle-formed. May. l. opposite, petiolate, cordate, obtuse, quite entire, dotted above, glabrous. Stem shrubby. h. 1ft. to 3ft.
C. Cotyledon (Cotyledon-like). A synonym of C. arborescens. C. ericoides (Heath-like).* fl. snow-white, small, five to ten disposed in an umbellate cyme. September. l. three to four lines long, ovate-oblong, flat, closely imbricated in four rows. Branchlets distant. h.6in. 1820. Plant shrubby, between erect and decumbent. Described as an elegant species. C. falcata (sickle-leaved).* fl. bright crimson, rarely white, with the tube about four lines long, forming a large, densely terminal corymb. June to September. l. rather connate, thick, glaucous, oblong, bluntish, bent down in the form of a sickle. h. 3ft. to 8ft. 1795. Shrub. SYN. Rochea falcata. (B.M.2035.) C. glomerata (clustered). fl. white, solitary in the forks of the Stems; ultimate ones glomerate. August. l. opposite, linear-lanceolate. Stems scabrous, dichotomous. h. 2in. to 4in. 1774. Annual. C. imbricata (imbricated). A synonym of C. lycopodioides. C. jasminea (Jasmine-flowered).* fl. white at first, but becoming reddish as they fade, very like those of the common Jasmine, scentless, capitate; tube of the corolla almost three times longer than the calyx. April, May. l. lanceolate, sessile, bluntish. 1815. Shrub decumbent. A beautiful plant, largely grown near London for decorative purposes. SYNS. Rochea jasminea and Kalosanthes jasminea. (B. M. 2178.) C. lactea (milky-white).* fl. snow-white, stellately spreading; cymes panicled, many-flowered, trichotomous. Winter. l. ovate, attenuated at the base, and connate, glabrous, dotted within the margin. Stem shrubby, terete, branched, twisted below. h. lft. to 2ft. 1774. (B. M. 1771.) There is a form of this with prettily variegated leaves. Both type and variety are excellent winter-flowering plants.
C. lycopodioides (Lycopodium-like). fl. axillary, sessile, bracteolate; corolla purple at the base, small. l. decussate, ovate, acute, smooth, imbricating in four rows. Stem shrubby, branched, covered with leaves on all sides. SYN. C. imbricata.
C. marginalis (marginal).* fl. white, disposed in umbellate corymbs. July. l. perfoliate, roundish-ovate, ending in a recurved mucro, flat, spreading, reddish beneath, quite entire, with cartilaginous margins, which are at first reddish, but at length become white. Stem herbaceous, glabrous, pellucid, creeping. 1774. SYN. C. profusa. (B. M. 6044.) C. perfoliata (perfoliate). fl. scarlet, disposed in large, terminal corymbs. July, August. l. connate, lanceolate, acuminated, rather channelled above, convex beneath, of a greenish glaucous colour. h. 3ft. to 6ft. 1700. Shrub. SYN. Rochea perfoliata. (A. B. R. 656.) C. profusa (profuse). A synonym of C. marginalis.
C. pyramidalis (pyramidal). fl. whitish, small, inconspicuous. l. four-ranked, very densely imbricate. South Africa. Herbaceous. A very curious plant, from its habit. (G. C. 1872, 289.) C. quadrifida (four-cut). fl. white, tinged with red, panicled, tetramerous. Summer. l. oblong-spathulate; upper ones rounder, decussate. 1872. Perennial. (Ref. B. 298.) C. rosularis (rosulate).* fl. white, in opposite, pedunculate clusters. July. l. radical, obtuse, minutely ciliated, flat, rosulate. h. 6in. 1819. Herbaceous.
C. rubicunda (rubicund). fl. crimson, in terminal dichotomous cymes, 6in. to 1ft. across. l. in opposite pairs, clasping the stem and broadly connate at the base, lanceolate, green, reflexed, narrowed gradually to a point, minutely ciliated; lower ones 6in. to 8in. long; upper ones gradually laxer and smaller. h. 1ft. to 3ft. (Ref. B. 339.) C. Saxifraga (Saxifraga-like). fl. flesh-coloured, on slender, terminal scapes. June. l. orbicular or sub-reniform, fleshy, 2in. to 3in. across, red beneath. h. 4in. 1873. (B. M. 6068.) C. spathulata (spathulate). fl. rose-coloured; cymes pedunculate, paniculate. July. l. opposite, petiolate, roundish, crenated, glabrous, shining above. Stems suffruticose, decumbent, branched. 1774. (L. B. C. 359, under the name of C. cordata.) C. tetragona (four-angled). fl. white, small, nearly urceolate, disposed in a pedunculate fastigiate cyme. August. l. decussate, sub-connate, depressed above, subulate, somewhat tetragonal, incurved, spreading, glabrous. Stem-erect, shrubby, terete, somewhat rooting. h. 2ft. 1711. C. versicolor (changeable).* fl. in umbels at the extremities of the branches, sweet-scented in the evening; corolla hypyocrateriform, with a long tube; limb shorter than the tube, five-cleft; segments somewhat recurved, bright red on the outside, and white within, except a red margin, which gradually extends over the whole. Summer. l. imbricate, lanceolate, hollowed, especially towards the base, connate, sheathing, edged with minute ciliae. Stem shrubby, erect, branched. SYNS. Rochea versicolor and Kalosanthes versicolor. (B. M. 2356.)