Crassula cultrata

Crassula cultrata, in Afrikaans known as the plakkiebos (little slab bush), is a shrub of 80 cm and occasionally nearly 1 m when in bloom. The growth form entails much basal branching and an erect, spreading, even sprawling habit. Lower branches become woody.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from Swellendam and the Little Karoo from Ladismith eastwards across the Eastern Cape to the south of KwaZulu-Natal. The photo was taken in the Rooiberg east of Van Wyksdorp.

The habitat is often clay soils where the plants grow among scrub, fynbos and Albany thicket. They are found on dry slopes, rocky outcrops and sometimes densely vegetated kloofs. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; JSTOR; http://redlist.sanbi.org).