Crassula multicava

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Fairy crassula
Crassula-multicava.JPG
Crassula multicava leaves and flowers
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Crassulaceae
Genus: Crassula
Species:
C. multicava
Binomial name
Crassula multicava
Lemaire.
Synonyms [1]

Crassula quadrifida

Crassula multicava is a perennial succulent plant from the family Crassulaceae. It is also known under various English common names including the fairy crassula, pitted crassula and London pride.[ citation needed ] In Zulu, it is known as umadinsane, [2] one of several plants known by this name. [3]

Contents

Description

It is a moderate to fast growing, mat-forming plant that features buxom, oval to round and deep green, opposite leaves, with one cultivar ('Purple Dragon') having purple undersides. The plant blooms in winter in its native habitat with white to pinkish starry flowers with four petals and four sepals. It reaches an average height of 15 cm, but would reach 30 cm. [4]

Cultivation

Used as a groundcover, the plant is resistant to droughts and low temperatures above −3 °C. It also resists the lack of light and is a shade lover, but that can negatively affects its color or the quality of the flowers. Self-seeding, it can also be multiplied by cuttings. They also propagate themselves by producing plantlets on the flower head that fall off and grow into independent plants. Due to its small size, it can be grown in pots in well-composted, clay soils. [5] [ page needed ]

Distribution

The fairy crassula is a native of South Africa, particularly the mountainous regions of Natal, Eastern and Southern Cape. There, it is found in forest margins, river and stream banks, and in coastal and subtropical thickets. [6] [ page needed ]

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<i>Leonotis leonurus</i> Species of plant

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<i>Rotheca myricoides</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Tulbaghia violacea</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Crassula capitella</i> Species of succulent

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<i>Crassula ovata</i> Species of succulent

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<i>Kalanchoe longiflora</i> Species of succulent

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Eucomis humilis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. It was first described by Baker in 1895. The greenish to purplish flowers appear in summer and are arranged in a spike (raceme), topped by a "head" of green leaflike bracts. Cultivated as an ornamental plant, it can be grown successfully outside where frosts are not too severe.

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<i>Tetradenia riparia</i> Species of flowering plant in the mint and sage family Lamiaceae

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<i>Drypetes arguta</i> Species of tree

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<i>Huernia hystrix</i> Species of plant in the genus Huernia

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Plectranthus ambiguus, the pincushion spurflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. Its cultivar 'Manguzuku' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Flowers are pinkish purple with faint purple lines on the upper edge.

<i>Hewittia malabarica</i> Species of flowering plant

Hewittia malabarica is a flowering plant in the monotypic genus HewittiaWight & Arn., belonging to the family Convolvulaceae and widespread throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and Polynesia. It is a climbing or prostrate perennial herb with slender stems and flowers that are pale yellow, cream, or white with a purple center, and large leaves that can be used as a cooked vegetable or used in folk medicine with the roots. The stems can be used to make ropes.

References

  1. Registry-Migration.Gbif.Org (2019). "Crassula quadrifida Bak.fil". GBIF. GBIF Secretariat. doi:10.15468/39omei . Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  2. Hutchings, A., Scott, A.H., Lewis, G. & Cunningham, A.B. 1996. Zulu medicinal plants: an inventory. University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg. p. 114.
  3. Hutchings, A., Scott, A.H., Lewis, G. & Cunningham, A.B. 1996. Zulu medicinal plants: an inventory. University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg. p. 413.
  4. Crassula multicava iGarden, Home of the Compulsive Gardener
  5. Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds) 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  6. Powrie, F. 1998. Grow South African Plants. A gardener's companion to indigenous plants. National Botanical Institute, Cape Town.