Crassula cultrata
Sharp-leaved Crassula | |
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The small, yellow-ish leaf-blades of Crassula cultrata | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Saxifragales |
Family: | Crassulaceae |
Genus: | Crassula |
Species: | C. cultrata
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Binomial name | |
Crassula cultrata |
Crassula cultrata (Sharp-leaved Crassula) is a succulent plant native to the southern parts of South Africa (the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal).
Description[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Crassula_cultrata_Betleh_-_Copy.jpg/220px-Crassula_cultrata_Betleh_-_Copy.jpg)
A small, erect, branching shrub (20-80 cm in height) with rounded, yellow-green leaves that have sharp, red-brown, cartilagenous margins. The leaf tip is typically rounded or obtuse.
The succulent leaves are flattened, and ob-lanceolate or knife-shaped ("cultrata"). This shape, and the sharp, cartilagenous edges of its leaves, are distinctive.
In December/January it produces elongated flower stems (12-40 cm), each with several loosely-held clumps of yellowish flowers (one of which is terminal). Each flower has black anthers and 3,5-4,5 mm long, cream coloured petals. The loose arrangement of the flowers is a key diagnostic character of this species.
Relatives[]
This species is related to Crassula atropurpurea, Crassula subaphylla, Crassula cotyledonis, Crassula pubescens and Crassula nudicaulis. , another similar species that is also found in river valleys, is very much smaller, with leaves that are almost cylindrical.
C.cultrata has flattened leaves, twisted to one side of the stem, with a sharp margin.[1][2]
Distribution[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Crassula_cultrata_Jansenville_1_-_Copy_-_Copy.jpg/220px-Crassula_cultrata_Jansenville_1_-_Copy_-_Copy.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Crassula_cultrata_Geelhoutb_-_1.jpg/220px-Crassula_cultrata_Geelhoutb_-_1.jpg)
It occurs from near Swellendam and Ladismith in the west, throughout the Little Karoo and Overberg regions, and across the arid parts of the Eastern Cape Province.
Its habitat is usually rocky ridges and outcrops in scrub vegetation, often in river valleys (like ).[3]
References[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crassula cultrata. |
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Wikispecies has information related to Crassula cultrata. |
- ^ Doreen Court (2000). Succulent Flora of Southern Africa. CRC Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-90-5809-323-3.
- ^ HR. Toelken (1985): Crassula. Flora of southern Africa 14: 1–229.
- ^ Crassula cultrata - PlantZAfrica.com
- Crassula
- Flora of the Cape Provinces
- Plants described in 1753
- Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus