About Crassula cultrata L.
Crassula cultrata L. is a small, erect, branching shrub that grows 20 to 80 cm tall. It has rounded, yellow-green succulent leaves with sharp, red-brown, cartilaginous margins. The leaf tip is typically rounded or obtuse, and the leaf blade is flattened, ob-lanceolate or knife-shaped — the specific epithet "cultrata" refers to this knife shape. This leaf shape, along with the sharp, cartilaginous leaf margins, are distinctive features of the species. In December and January, it produces elongated flower stems that measure 12 to 40 cm long. Each stem bears several loosely arranged clusters of yellowish flowers, with one cluster growing at the end of the stem. Each flower has black anthers and cream-coloured petals that are 3.5 to 4.5 mm long. The loose arrangement of the flowers is a key diagnostic character for identifying this species. This species occurs from near Swellendam and Ladismith in the west, throughout the Little Karoo and Overberg regions, and across the arid parts of South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. Its natural habitat is typically rocky ridges and outcrops in scrub vegetation, and it often grows in river valleys, similar to Crassula rogersii.
