Crassula

DECUMBENS var. DECUMBENS

Synonyms :

 Bulliarda trichotoma  (Ecklon & Zeyher (1837) / Tillaea trichotoma  (Ecklon & Zeyher) Walpter (1843)

Tillaea macrantha  Hooker f. (1841) / Crassula macrantha  (Hooker f.) Diels & Pritzel (1904)

Tiilaea ovallei  Philippi (1872) / Crassula ovallei  (Philippi) Reiche (1897)

Tillaea radicans  Philippi (1872) / Crassula radicans  (Philippi) Reiche (1897) (nom. illeg., Art. 53.1)

Tillaea macrantha var. sepalosa  F.Mueller (1881)

Crassula mongolica  Franchet (1882) / Tillaea mongolica  (Franchet) S-H.Fu (1965)

Tillaea micrantha  Tate (1890) (nom. inval., Art. 61.1)

Tillaea rencana  Philippi (1894)

Crassula leipoldtii  Schönland & Baker f. (1902)

Crassula macrantha var. nuda  Ostenfeld (1916)

Crassula langebergensis  Schönland (1929)

Distribution : Chile, Australia, Mongolia, South Africa (Northern Cape, Western Cape) : in Sa in succulent Karoo, sandy regions near pools.

 

Description (by E. van Jaarsveld  & U. Eggli in IHSP, 2003) :

Decumbent to erect annuals to 12 cm tall or much shorter, freely branching from the base and forming small groups, rarely mat-forming.

Leaves 3 – 10 x 0.5 – 2 mm, sessile, linear-lanceolate, oblanceolate to elliptic, subulate, glabrous, green to reddish-brown, upper face flat, lower face convex, tip acute with a terminal papilla.

Inflorescences thyrses with numerous dichasia (1 – 2 flowers per node).

Flowers pedicellate, 4- (outside Africa) or 5-merous (Africa), sepals ovate to lanceolate, (1.3-) 1.9 – 2.4 x 0.3 – 0.8 mm, margin denticulate, corolla cup-shaped, white to cream, petals ovate to lanceolate, (1-) 1.5 – 1.9 x 0.6 – 0.9 mm, acute, equal or shorter than the sepals, nectar scales obtriangular, 0.4 x 0.3 mm, seeds oblong, 0.44 – 0.5 x 0.23 mm,  reddish-brown, densely papillate.

Flowering time :late spring to mid-summer.

Closely related to C. closiana (sepals papillate) and C. connata (seeds slightly ridged).

 

Photos Chris Rodgerson

The photos correspond with the illustration in : Smith, Crouch & Figueiredo, Field Guide to Succulents in Southern Africa, 268, 2017.

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