Crassula hemisphaerica leaves

The leaf rosette of Crassula hemisphaerica is dense and dome-shaped, flat on the ground and about 3 cm in diameter. The internodes between leaves on the stem, invisible in any case in this compact structure of layered leaves, must approach zero length.

The smallest top leaves are markedly pointed; the next few are nearly circular, their tips becoming less apparent, while the lowest ones are much broader than they are long. If the pharaohs had seen this plant pyramid building might have been an even more complex task.

The purple colouring of the spots in the upper leaf parts contrasts attractively against the pale green to turquoise lower down. The white eyelash-type hairy fringes along leaf margins appear like solid rims on the younger leaves.

The leaves superficially seem to be opposite although they succeed each other, being so broadly sessile that stem-clasping is suggested, though invisible. Every successive leaf is slightly smaller than its predecessor, not quite matching the pair qualities typical of opposite leaves. Still, they are kind of decussate in arrangement, the “pairs” perpendicular to each other (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010).