Crassula coccinea

Crassula coccinea, the red crassula or in Afrikaans klipblom (stone flower) and keiserskroon (emperor’s crown), is an erect leaf succulent that branches and reaches heights around 60 cm.

Several bright red flowers, including the red crassula are found among the cliffs and crevices of this very special mountain. The mountain pride butterfly, Meneris tulbaghia, a specialist pollinator of red flowers, will beat the casual hiker to them. This large brown butterfly has a long proboscis that enables it to reach nectar in the deep corolla tube of C. coccinea, simultaneously pollinating it… all because insects don’t wash after visiting a flower.

The species distribution ranges from the Cape Peninsula to Paarl and Stilbaai in the southern Cape. Table Mountain is one of the special places where it is common.

The habitat is quartzite sandstone outcrops, mainly above altitudes of 800 m. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century.

This photo was taken in a Cape garden where the klipblom will readily grow. The Cape gardeners companion, the ubiquitous garden snail was in attendance for the photo (Manning, 2007; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).

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