Crassula congesta subsp. laticephala

Crassula congesta subsp. laticephala is a dwarf leaf-succulent that produces a flower stem of about 15 cm in height. The plant is short-lived, sometimes only annual or biennial.

Young plants have stubby, blunt-edged leaves pointing upwards along the columnar stem. The narrowly pointed leaves on a mature plant grow in pairs decussately arranged. This means that each successive pair is positioned perpendicular to the previous one, forming an X-shape in the stems foliage as seen from above. The leaves are pale green and hairless, in the photo displaying some reddish purple at the bases.

The remains of past flowers that grow in a dense cluster upon a stem tip in winter are visible here.

The subspecies distribution is in the Western Cape, in the west of the Little Karoo from Barrydale to Oudtshoorn. The more common subspecies, subsp. congesta, is also found in the Western Cape, in the Great Karoo between Touws River and Laingsburg, mainly on the northern slopes of the Witteberg.

The habitat of subsp. laticephala is mainly succulent Karoo in quartzitic gravel. The subspecies is considered to be rare in its habitat early in the twenty first century, although its population is stable (Frandsen, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).