Synonyms:

Combesia muscosa
Crassula lycioides
Crassula lycopodioides
Sedum lycopodiodes
Sedum muscosum
Tetraphyle lycopodioides

Habitat:

Crassula muscosa is native to South Africa and southern Namibia. It is present in semi-arid areas, such as the Karoo desert. It is not threatened at all: it is indeed an invasive species, thanks to its capacity to propagate though stem cuttings.

Description:

Crassula muscosa is a perennial, suffruticose plant, forming an intricate pattern of small, flexuous, bright green stems that somehow look like the leaves of a cypress, no more than 5 millimeters thick. The stems are 10 to 60 centimeters long and can be spreading or sub-erect. Leaves are extremely small, 2 to 8 millimeters long and 1-3 broad, arranged in a scaled pattern, overlapping over each other, slightly triangular in shape, flattened and pointed.
Flowers are extremely small as well, solitary or grouped on an inflorescence called dichasia, sprouting from the axils of leaves and spreading an unpleasant smell. Their corolla is cup-shaped and has microscopic petals (2 millimeters), oblong or triangular, yellow-green to brown, with bright yellow anthers (anthers are the male parts of the flowers). The blooming season occurs in Summer.

Cultivation:

Crassula muscosa is not difficult to cultivate. Here below are our tips:

The best exposure is in full sun or semi-shade. By the way, intense sunlight enhances the bright red tinges of its leaves, so we advice to put it in a bright spot. Avoid a direct exposure during the hottest hours of summer days. 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 muscosa 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 though, in theory, Crassula muscosa should survive to temperatures down to -5ºC
Water your Crassula muscosa 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, fed with plenty of well-rotten compost. A substrate specific for succulents is the ideal for Crassula muscosa.
Fertilization can be done once the growth season, diluting a product specific for succulents with water at half the doses recommended on the label.
Repot once a year, pandering the glowing branch production of this species. Also, you can repot whenever you notice that the plant outgrows its pot.

Propagation:

Crassula muscosa can be easily propagated through the removal of the offshoots, by removing a lateral one and planting it in a light, well-drained soil. The time required to root is usually a month. Cuttings are easy to realize and thus we recommend this method, instead of sowing, that can be tough with this plant. Leaf cuttings are also possible for this species, removing them carefully as they are attached to the plant through their very base, and replanting in a light compost after being left to dry out properly for 1-2 days.

Curiosity:

The genus name “Crassula” comes from the Latin crassus, that means “fat”. Crassulas are unpretentious plants, with a high vegetative strength: for this reason, it is sometimes used indoors, in bedrooms or offices, for air purification, due to their capacity to filter air particles and eliminating harmful substances.

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