Adromischus cristatus var. cristatus

Adromischus cristatus var. cristatus, sometimes commonly called the crinkle-leaf plant, is a small leaf succulent reaching 40 cm only when it bears a long flowering stem. The plant branches at the base, bearing up to more than ten short-stalked leaves in each loose, ground-level rosette. Orange-coloured or pale grey aerial roots occur in bunches on the stems.

The chubby, succulent leaf tip is wedge-shaped, a hard wavy ridge along its abruptly square-cut upper margin. These ridges, sometimes compared to a comb, vary considerably in their undulations. And so does the leaf colouring in the photo: The whitish bloom on the leaf surfaces is interrupted by brighter blotches of green, yellow, pink and more. Less busy green leaf surfaces, hairy or smooth, also occur. Leaves may become as long as 5 cm. Their maximum width occurring at the tip is less than half the leaf length.

The small, greenish flowers cause less excitement than the leaves. They are borne in a spike-like cyme on a long, erect peduncle emerging from the centre of the leaf rosette. There is a pale green or maroon calyx, and a cylindrical, white corolla tube that includes the stamens.

The species distribution is in the east of the Western Cape, from around Willowmore but more widespread in the Eastern Cape, particularly the noorsveld of the Sundays River Valley.

The habitat is rocky ridges and cliffs. The habitat population of the variety is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Van Jaarsveld, et al, 2006; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).