Crassula ovata

Crassula Ovata is also known as lucky plant and money plants. It is a succulent with small white or pink flowers. It is widely used as a houseplant in many countries. It requires very little care and can survive in almost any indoor environment. This is why it is so popular. It is sometimes referred to as the money tree; however, Pachira aquatica also has this nickname.

Description

The jade plant is an evergreen with thick branches. The jade plant has thick, shiny, and smooth leaves. They grow in pairs along their branches. Leaves are a rich jade green, although some may appear to be more of a yellow-green. When exposed to high amounts of sunlight, some varieties can develop a reddish tint on the leaves’ edges. The stems will grow new and remain the same colour as the leaves. However, they become more woody and brown as they age.

It is a tall, upright, rounded, thick-stemmed shrub that can reach a height of 2.5 metres. Its base is often sparsely branched. Sometimes, a single trunk can reach up to 6 cm in diameter. The succulent shoots are gray green. Older branches’ bark is prone to separating in horizontal, brownish strips. Although becoming brown and appearing woody with age, stems never become true lignified tissue, remaining succulent and fleshy throughout the plant’s life.

The oppositely arranged, spreading to ascending, green leaves are stalked up to 5 millimetres shorter. The fleshy, bare, wedge-shaped, obovate leaf blade measures 3-9 centimetres in length and 1.8-4 centimetres in width. The sharp-edged leaf margins are often reddish.

Many varieties and cultivars were selected. C.ovata “Hummel’s Sunset” has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.

Inflorescence

When it matures, it produces small white or pink, star-like shaped flowers in winter. Terminal inflorescence is a top-round thyrsus containing many dichasia. It has a length and a diameter of about 5 centimetres. The inflorescence stem is approximately 15-18 millimetres long and has a diameter of about 2 millimetres. The length of the flower stalks is 5 millimetres.

The sweet-scented, hermaphroditic flowers have radial symmetry and double perianths. Each of the five sepals is approximately 2 millimetres in length and fused together at the base. The white or pink flower crown has a star-shaped shape and a diameter of approximately 15 millimetres. Its lanceolate petals are 7 millimetres long and 2.5 millimetres wide. The stamens measure 5 millimetres in length. The combination of shorter days, cold nights and lack of water for several weeks will produce flowering around the beginning of winter.

Cultivation

As a succulent, Crassula ovata requires little water in the summer and even less in the winter. It can be overwatered, especially in the winter. Watering excessively can cause leaf fall and root rot. A lack of water can also cause damage. It must be planted in a porous substrate that allows for good drainage. This will depend on where it is located. It requires about 4-6 hours of direct sun or medium shade exposures with bright light. In regions of mild weather it can withstand some light frost, provided that the substrate is kept dry.

C. Ovata might have a reddish tint around its leaves if it is exposed to bright sunlight. In more extreme cases, the green colour of the plant is lost and can be replaced by yellow. This is caused by the jade plant making pigments such as carotenoids to protect from harsh sunlight and ultraviolet rays. The plant also flowers in the wintertime, particularly during a cooler, darker, dry spell. C.ovata can sometimes be attacked by mealybugs. This is a common problem for succulents.

Because it is easy to form bonsai when properly pruned, the jade plant is well-known for its bonsai abilities. A jade plant is a good choice for bonsai because they are sturdy, durable, and easy to grow.

Propagation

The jade plant is also known for its ease of propagation, which can be carried out with clippings or even stray leaves which fall from the plant. Both cuttings and clippings can be used to propagate jade plants with higher success rates than those using cuttings. In the wild, vegetative propagation is the jade plant’s main method of reproduction. Wild jade plants often have branches that fall, and these branches can root and become new plants.

Like many succulents, jade plants can be propagated from just the swollen leaves which grow in pairs on the stems. Although the methods of propagation are different, they all follow the same steps. The wounds on the leaves should be allowed to dry, and then callus can be removed. The leaves can then be placed on or in soil. Roots begin to grow on severed leaves about four weeks after being removed from the stem. Environmental factors such as temperature and humidity affect the speed at which the roots and new plants develop. Foliage usually appears soon after new roots have formed.