Crassula multicava subsp. multicava
Common name
fairy crassula
Family
Crassulaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Features
Glabrous perennial herb; stems prostrate, creeping, sprawling or decumbent, rooting at nodes. Leaves shortly petiolate, sometimes with petioles to 2 cm long, mostly on distal ascending part of stems, not decussate or imbricate except in small rosettes at stem apices, to 45-(55) x 40-(43)mm, broadly ovate, broadly oblong-elliptic, to suborbicular or almost square, flat, entire, green or glaucescent, often suffused with red, especially towards margins, dotted with numerous whitish or reddish hydathodes; base rounded , truncate or subcordate; apex rounded or more or less emarginate. Inflorescence a loose thyrse, to about 10 cm long but very variable in size; main axis with very small bracts. Flowers 5-merous, 8-12 mm diameter, usually 12-numerous, on pedicels slightly < to = flowers. Calyx 1.5-2 mm long; lobes triangular. Carolla star-like, petals free and patent, (4)-5-6 x 1-2 mm, narrowly triangular or triangular-lanceolate, rose to crimson in bud, pale pink inside at anthesis; apex acute. Stamens 3-4 mm long, < carpels. Scales 0.2-0.3 mm long, more or less rectangular (wider than long). Fruits and seeds not seen, but flowers often replaced by small plantlets in inflorescence branch axils. (Webb et al 1988).
Flowering
August, September, October, November, December, January, February
Flower colours
Red/Pink
Life cycle
Perennial. Spreads vegetatively to form dense cover. Plantlets on flowerheads drop off and develop. Seed not observed in NZ.
Year naturalised
1959
Origin
South Africa
Reason for introduction
Ornamerntal.
Etymology
crassula: From the Latin crassus ‘thick’, meaning ‘rather thick’
National Pest Plant Accord species
This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.