Crassula muscosa

Crassula muscosa is a drought tolerant, evergreen succulent plant with a very small, light green leaves that are densely packed around a thin stem.

If you look close at it from on high, you’ll see that the leaves actually form a tiny little square.

Particularly graphic in its structure, it is often used as an ‘accent plant’ – as a solitary piece on a table or in a windowbox.

It is most commonly called the miniature pine tree among plant enthusiasts, and is often used in the creation of pine-like bonsai.

The Crassula are known as pygmyweeds – they are a large group of succulents containing over 200 species.

TIPS: Cut them back if they get too long or too leggy – they respond well to a trim!

The Tale:

“Crassula” means thick or fat in Latin, referring to the leaves that become plumpy the more water they are able to store.

This is a good indicator of the health of your crassula – if less plumpy, then she needs a dash of water! It’s a bit more difficult to tell with this one as the stems are quite fine and fragile.

This genus was first named in 1862 and the genus contains 150-200 species, most of them occurring in South Africa.

‘Muscosa’ is Latin for “mossy”.

South Africa