Crassula pyramidalis

Crassula pyramidalis, in Afrikaans commonly known as the rygbossie (little threading or tacking bush), is a brittle shrublet that branches and typically grows to 10 cm, occasionally 25 cm. Whether some of the stems seen in the photo are produced from the same root base is not known.

The about triangular leaves are unusual: scale-like and symmetrically stacked densely in four vertical arrays in a cuddling mode, they withhold sun from the leaf surfaces, exposing only the entire leaf margins. Maybe considerations of dehydration in their semi-arid habitat outweighs the need for more photosynthesis?

The species distribution ranges from the Northern Cape in the south of Namaqualand to the Tanqua Karoo in the Western Cape and eastwards through the Great Karoo and Little Karoo to the Eastern Cape as far as Baviaanskloof.

The habitat is succulent Karoo, Nama Karoo and fynbos on dry, rocky slopes where the plants often grow protected under taller vegetation. These plants occur in both winter and summer rainfall regions. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; Moriarty, 1997; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).