Crassula tecta leaf papillae

The protective leaf papillae that shield Crassula tecta plants from heat and full sun glare are white and tiny. They densely cover the leaf surfaces, here roughly arranged in vertical columns on the blades. The leaf tips, slightly pointy, don’t have papillae, but orange-yellow, hard ridges.

Leaf clusters are not roundly rosette-shaped, also not quite distichous, although half the leaves of each cluster face the other half in erect, close-knit positions.

Plant design responds to climatic and other environmental challenges and changes. To the outsider this micro-world adaptation appears like survival magic (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010).