Crassula capitella subsp. thyrsiflora | Red Pagoda
€15,90
🌱 Morphology
Red Pagoda · Red Flames. Perennial, branched succulent with a creeping to erect habit, forming multiple rosettes and capable of developing small clumps. The stems are fleshy and may have a somewhat lignified base. The leaves are opposite and decussate, fleshy, lanceolate to ovate or elliptical, initially arranged in a relatively open manner. With intense lighting, the leaves become progressively more compact, adopt a characteristic arrangement in four overlapping rows, resembling a pagoda, and acquire shades ranging from green to pink, deep red, or reddish-purple. The coloration is much more pronounced with high radiation and moderate temperatures. It can form roots at the nodes of the stems when they come into contact with the substrate.
🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family
Family Crassulaceae. It is native to southern Africa, and Kew recognizes its distribution in South Africa, Namibia, and the provinces of the Cape, Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal. It inhabits a wide variety of dry or semi-arid environments, including dry grasslands, karroid scrub, and sandy or stony slopes, usually partially protected by rocks or vegetation. There are records in the Eastern Cape of plants growing on both rocky slopes and floodplains and seasonally wet areas.
❄️ Temperature
USDA Zone 9b–11b. It tolerates moderate drops in temperature when well-acclimated and the substrate remains dry. SANBI indicates that C. capitella can withstand frost, though not heavy freezes. For pot cultivation, it is recommended to protect it from persistent frost and, above all, to avoid the combination of cold and prolonged moisture at the roots.
☀️ Lighting
Intense lighting is recommended, with a target of 15–25 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ of DLI PAR. Radiation is especially important in this subspecies because it determines much of its ornamental appearance: with plenty of light, the leaves become compact and acquire the characteristic red tones, while with less radiation, they remain greener and more spaced out. Exposure to direct sun should be carried out through progressive acclimation.
💧 Growth cycle and watering
Due to its wide distribution and the diversity of habitats it occupies, it is not appropriate to impose a rigid dormancy schedule. Vegetative activity is encouraged by moderate temperatures and water availability, and it may slow down during episodes of cold or extreme heat. SANBI places flowering in the austral summer and recommends cultivation with good drainage, avoiding excess water.
During active growth, abundant watering is recommended, allowing the substrate to dry out completely before watering again. When temperatures are very high or drop significantly, watering should be spaced out. The goal is not to keep the plant permanently dry, but to replicate the natural pattern of water supply followed by a sufficient drying period. Excess humidity and poor drainage promote fungal diseases and root rot.
🌸 Flowering
It produces small, white, star-shaped flowers, gathered in a terminal thyrse-like inflorescence, usually narrow and elongated. Flowering occurs mainly during the austral summer; under cultivation conditions in Madrid, it can be expected approximately between July and October, depending on the temperature and the moment growth is activated.
🌿 Nutrition
We recommend Desert CHOICE® Succulents during the active growth period. Before flowering, it can be supplemented with Desert CHOICE® Flowering, especially when the plant has developed enough vegetative mass and receives adequate lighting.
This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a technological square pot with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.
9x9 cm gourmet black pot
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