Scientific Name
Crassula ovata (Miller) Druce
Common Name(s)
Money Tree, Money Plant, Jade Plant, Jade Tree, Friendship Tree, Lucky Plant, Dollar Plant, Pink Joy
Synonym(s)
Crassula argentea, Crassula portulacea, Crassula obliqua, Crassula articulata, Crassula nitida, Crassula lucens, Cotyledon ovata, Cotyledon lutea, Toelkenia ovata
Scientific Classification
Family: Crassulaceae
Subfamily: Crassuloideae
Genus: Crassula
Flower
Color: White to pink
Bloom Time: Spring
Description
Crassula ovata is a well-branched compact succulent shrub with fleshy, oval, glossy dark grey-green leaves and round heads of white to pink star-shaped flowers in winter and early spring. It grows up to 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. The stem is stout and gnarled and gives the impression of great age, and its branches are also short and stubby but well-proportioned. Branches are fleshy, grey-green, and the bark peels in horizontal brownish strips in older specimens. Leaves are egg-shaped to elliptic, often with a red margin and a somewhat pointed end, up to 2 inches (50 mm) long and up to 1 1/2 inches (38 mm) wide. They are in opposite pairs, the one pair arranged at right angles to the next and clustered towards the ends of the branches.
How to Grow and Care
Easy to grow in a container, best in full sun but will tolerate part sun. It needs well-drained soil with a neutral pH. Water regularly from spring to autumn, allowing the soil to dry out before watering again. During the winter months, water only enough to keep the leaves from shriveling. The most common reason for failure is overwatering.
Propagating is achieved with leaf or stem cuttings placed into a soil mix, then waiting until they show some growth. Before placing them in the soil mix, you will prevent potential problems from the sap seeping out by allowing them to dry on a windowsill for a few days or so.
See more at How to Grow and Care for Crassula.
Origin
Crassula ovata is native to South Africa.
Links
- Back to genus Crassula
- Plantpedia: Browse flowering plants by Scientific Name, Common Name, Genus, Family, USDA Hardiness Zone, or Origin
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