A few more Crassulas.

[ChrisR]

Following on from my my recent Lithops thread viewtopic.php?f=1&t=164290 I thought some of our more discerning Forumites might like to see a few nice Crassulas we saw at the same places.

In Namibia and on our way to Luderitz we made a stop on the main road just to the south of Aus. We hopped a fence at a lay by rest stop, to take a look around.

Crassula corallina ssp corallina usually gets rather weedy in a pot, I suppose due to lack of light......but it looks much nicer in situ. It's very widespread and this seems a rather green form.

On the other side of the road we found Crassula ausensis. I'm not really familiar with this so is it a particularly hairy form? We saw it north and south of this and neither were as nice as this one.

For comparison, this is Crassula ausensis further north on Haalenberg to the east of Luderitz.

We saw these at Areb in Bushmanland. Crassula corallina ssp macrorhiza. This ssp has a fusiforme root and although much more compact and beautiful than ssp corallina in habitat, would probably not stay as nice in a pot as it is here.

[Diane]

Those are lovely, Chris! Could the hairy C. ausensis be ssp. giessii? (I have it), I'm loving the Crassula corallina ssp macrorhiza, what a shame it wouldn't look so good in a pot! Thanks for sharing.

[ChrisR]

I guess it could be Diane - it's certainly hairy enough - but I can't see much about it on the web. I see Tolken says ssp giessii has obovate leaves which are described as being broadest above the middle, and roughly 2x as long as wide....which these don't seem to be? Can you post a pic of yours for comparison? Does it have collection data? Hopefully DT will enlighten us further.

[Tony R]

These are all stunning specimens, Chris, truly 'little gems' (not the lettuce ). Many thanks for sharing.

[Diane]

I'll get a pic, but it will have to wait a few days, due to awful weather!

[Greenlarry]

Very cool.
I'd be tempted to bring a leaf home with me

[juster]

Lovely pictures Chris, and great to see these in habitat. Thanks for posting.

[Diane]

Well, here's a pic I managed to take this morning, Chris. I got it from Trevor Wray, who gave a Crassula talk to Kingston branch last year, as a swap for a bit of C. fragarioides (guess who from? ). Unfortunately, no data, Trevor may have told me where he obtained it, but if he did I've forgotten!

Is it the same as yours?

Crassula ausensis ssp. geissii?

Crassula ausensis ssp. geissii?

Shown in a 2.5" pot

[Mintylemonade]

Such beautiful pictures, how fortunate you are to see such beauties! The hairy ausensis and corallina ssp macrorhiza are so nivce!

[Apicra]

Have you got yourself a copy of Toelken's (1977) two vols monograph, Chris? My first reaction was that it must be subsp. macrorrhiza that far north, but you're right! Toelken lists a northern outpost for subsp. corallina near Aus and your photos do appear to be of a creeping plant.

C. ausensis is a gem in all its forms, only from Namibia. Actually Toelken, who observed his Crassulas very closely, differentiates subsp. giessii via the marginal cilia on the leaves "unique among plants of this subsection". The clone in cult appeared via the Czech republic about a decade ago and Diane's great photos do show cilia towards the leaf tip. I agree your Aus sample could be called subsp. giessii, whereas the Haalenberg plant appears to be the typical subsp. These subsp. appear to be very closely related, and the newer subsp. titanopsoides also - varieties at best, for consistency with other taxonomic decisions that Toelken made.

Best wishes,
Derek Tribble