Crassula perfoliata

Crassula perfoliata, commonly known as red treasure and in Afrikaans as heuningbossie (little honey bush), is a leaf succulent reaching about 1 m in height. The species comprises four recognized local varieties. Var. falcata, a fifth, is no longer recognised here, sunk into var. minor (as SANBI does), or the other way round, var. minor sunk into var. falcata (as iNaturalist does at the time of writing).

There are only two red flowering options to choose from for this distinctly grey-leaved garden plant. Var. minor is a small plant bearing grey-green leaves, probably the answer in this case. The sickle-shaped leaves are vertically stacked, the plant sometimes also called var. rubra. Var. coccinea flowering red, often has yellow-green leaves instead of grey ones, but they are channelled and facing up. There may also be horticulturally developed cultivars.

The species distribution is in the east of South Africa, from the Eastern Cape through KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as in some neighbouring countries.

The habitat is variable shrubland, grassland and thicket, often on rocky outcrops. The habitat populations of all the varieties are considered of least concern early in the twenty first century.

C. perfoliata is but one of thousands of plants that have complex recorded histories in literature, botanical and popular or commercial, reflecting both knowledge growth, judgment calls, guessing and inventiveness regarding taxonomic placement of what one may be looking at. Bypassing the debate may be settled via a homemade common name, and maybe a bewildering proliferation of such names. Or enjoy another nameless plant by its looks alone. To some the scientific names are simply too daunting, particularly the sudden changes into yet newer, frustrating, long ones. Don't blame Latin! Apart from it being dead as a language and can't fight back, it accommodates seekers from all language communities as a neutral solution.

Gardeners don't change their names (too often). Their pet plants shouldn't either! Unfortunately, there is ongoing, elusive stuff relating to the characteristics of, and relations among the plants of one's interest. Dipping into that knowledge and absorbing select bits add to the enjoyment of the plants encountered in everyday life. And for that one likes to have names! Just as some people do not start conversations with strangers, thawing only after introductions or serendipitous events. Plants may well become better appreciated when their names are known.

Getting into nature, or just a little closer to it, is an appealing consideration. Lifelong behaviour patterns become key ingredients of valued experience. Quiet reflection and observation accompany mental activity and a private range of feelings, animalistic enjoyment or therapeutic soothing... or an innocent addiction. Stress reduces, coping increases.

For others the bush sets the mind racing, the curiosity heightened. Intellectual pursuits of learning about birding, the ocean, mountains, forests or deserts progress to ecology, relationships among more or less everything there is. Conservation becomes valued, citizenship values grow, a better place for all becomes more possible, worth having (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Smith, et al, 2017; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).