The twiggy, decumbent stems of Crassula subaphylla, growing in the Robertson Karoo.The brittle stems often have flaking strips of bark
Crassula subaphylla is a small, dense to sparse, straggly shrublet, consisting of numerous brownish stems and branches, 15 – 30 cm tall (up to 60 when scrambling in vegetation). Branches are wiry, woody, but thin and brittle, twiggy (usually decumbent), with flaking strips of bark. Younger branches are slightly velvety (puberulous), reddish-brown, carnose. The leaves are widely dispersed along the branches with internodes of 0.5 — 1 (-3) cm, variable in shape, hairiness and colour (greyish- or reddish-green to yellow-green), distinctively pointed/conical (lanceolate-linear), and easily break off, 5 – 23 mm long and 4 – 8 mm in diameter. It flowers in spring to mid-summer with thyrses up to 8 cm tall with numerous dichasia. The flowers are cream with brown anthers, tubular, panduriform, to 5 mm, have distinctively recurved membranous wings on both sides of the petal tips.[2][3]
Distribution and ecology
Succulent and Nama Karoo of South Namibia and RCA.[1]
Regional variation
The typical form, with small lanceolate leaves, occurs in the Little Karoo, the Great Karoo as far as Namibia, and in surrounding karooid and mountainous areas, as well as the Overberg in the southern Cape.
The rare variety virgata is only found in the far western Namaqualand, and has smooth leaves on erect branches.
The form that occurs around Worcester, in the south-west, also decumbent, sometimes has thin, glabrous leaves and only the young stems are slightly hairy.
Subspecies
Crassula subaphylla var. subaphylla — southern Namibia southwards into the Northern, Western, and Eastern Cape; also in the Free State.
Crassula subaphylla var. virgata (Harv.) Toelken — RCA (Northern Cape, Western Cape).
