Crassula expansa subsp. expansa

    Crassula expansa subsp. expansa

    Crassula expansa subsp. expansa is a matforming, short-lived perennial reaching 15 cm to 30 cm in height when flowering. The numerous brittle stems root at nodes that touch the ground.

    The stalkless, thickly succulent leaf bodies, oblong to spindle-shaped, taper to acutely pointed tips. The leaves are hairless, green or red and usually shallowly channelled above. Marginal leaf glands are visible on some forms.

    This subspecies of C. expansa grows in all nine provinces of South Africa and parts of southern Africa.

    The plants highly diverse habitat includes many lowland, clay and loam areas and rocky slopes but not fynbos. The subspecies is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).