Curio crassulifolius

Curio crassulifolius, commonly known as blue fingers, is an erect or spreading leaf succulent, a perennial that reaches heights from 15 cm to 30 cm. It used to be known scientifically as Senecio crassulifolius and Kleinia crassulifolia at different stages in its botanical history.

There is an issue with the spelling of the specific epithet: some records have it as crassulaefolius, apparently the same plant using an older spelling. Both names indicate leaf resemblance with Crassula.

The leaves are fleshy, cylindrical and spindle-shaped, pointing upwards and inwards in attractive rosette-like clusters around the tops of the branched stems. Leaf colour is blue-green or green to yellow-green when older.

The flowerheads are white or yellow and occur in clusters above the leaves. Flowering happens from before midwinter until early spring.

The species may be distributed in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape, although the situation is unclear. The picture was taken at Kirstenbosch. The species name was found in the Bartholomeusklip Plant List (a reserve to the north of Wellington in the Boland).

The habitat must be at least partly fynbos. The status of the plant population in nature is unknown (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Wikipedia; www.redlist.sanbi.org).