Synonyms:

Crassula ausensis subsp. ausensis
Crassula karasana Friedrich
Crassula karasana
Crassula littlewoodii

Habitat:

Crassula ausensis “Little Woodii” is a nursey cultivar, while Crassula ausensis is native to southern Namibia, where it’s widespread near Aus and in the mountains of Great Karas.

Description:

Crassula ausensis “Little Woodii” is a small succulent plant, made of a bunch of succulent stems, purplish and covered in a fine pruine of soft, whitish hair. The hair has the function to minimize the water loss through evapotranspiration, like the succulent leaves, tongue-shaped and slightly pointed. This succulent branches dichotomously, producing branches at an angle of 90º. The stems are slender, only 3 millimeters in diameter. Leaves, coloured in bright, light green, with a reddish point, are 1-4 centimeters long and not deciduous. In early Spring (March-April), the inflorescences are produces. They are cymes, borne on an elongated stalk (8-9 centimeters), and bear tiny flowers with a tubular corolla, formed by several petals fused to each other, creamy-white with browns anthers. (Anthers are the terminal part of male reproductive organs of every flower.

Cultivation:

Crassula ausensis “Little Woodii” is not so difficult to cultivate. Here below are our tips:

The best exposure is in full sun or semi-shade. By the way, intense direct sunlight should be avoided during the Summer. During the rest of the year, place it in a sunny spot. Shade should be only occasional, as plants grown in full shade tend to become more fragile, to loose leaves and turn on a paler colour.
To stay safe, it’s better to keep your Crassula ausensis “Little Wodii” indoors in Winter or at least to shelter it, if you live in a temperate climate area and you choose to grow it outdoors. Crassulas in general, in fact, should never grow at temperatures below 7 ° C. In frost-free areas, by the way, Crassula ausensis “Little Wodii” can stay outdoors even during the Winter.
Provide a good ventilation rate, as this species doesn’t like stagnant air.
Water your Crassula ausensis “Little Wodii” every 2-3 days in Spring and Summer during the growth season. By the way, if you forget, the plant will survive. Wait for the soil to dry up completely before each watering. Watering slightly more frequent in spring may encourage flowering. In autumn and winter, the watering can be reduced up to be completely suspended.
Choose a porous and well drained substrate: a succulent mix will do good for your Crassula ausensis “Little Wodii”.
Fertilization can be done once the growth season, diluting a product specific for succulents with water at half the doses recommended on the label.
Crassula ausensis “Little Woodii” grows pretty fast, but, once reached the pot’s dimension, it can stay in the same one for many years. Choose a shallow pot to host its fibrous roots properly. To ensure, however, the proper input of fresh soil, repotting should be carried out once a year.

Propagation:

Crassula ausensis “Little Woodii” can be easily propagated through the removal of the offshoots, by removing a lateral one and planting it in a sandy, porous mix. Also stem cuttiings should be placed in a similar medium, and moisted every 3-4 days. The time required to root is usually 2-3 weeks. Cuttings are easy to realize and thus we recommend this method, instead of sowing, that can be more tough with this species. Also leaf cuttings are a viable method. Seeds, instead, have to be sown in Autumn.

Curiosity:

The genus name “Crassula” comes from the Latin crassus, that means fat. All Crassulas are unpretentious plants, with a high vegetative strength: for this reason, they are sometimes used for air purification indoors, in bedrooms and offices, due to its capacity to eliminate harmful and polluting particles from the atmosphere.

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