Crassula rupestris old shrub

Crassula rupestris is one of the larger succulent shrubs of the veld it shares. It not only benefits from sheltering under bigger shrubs, but also provides refuge to yet smaller species, plant and animal, craving partial shade.

Citizen diversity is a communal survival factor benefiting the overall ecology, no matter the species mix. Survival of the fittest in some sense says the opposite. Partial truths compete as some life itself continues in every biological niche, irrespective of its constituent parts. Nature does not bicker over truth, people do.

C. rupestris plants reach heights around 60 cm and may, particularly when growing in the open, spread wider than that. This one was seen near Barrydale in the Little Karoo.

Old leaves drop off, leaving the long, lower stems parts bare and thin. The stems become pale grey, woody and are seldom straight (Smith, et al, 2017; Frandsen, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist).