€15,90

🌱 Morphology

Sosatiebossie · Kebab bush. Small shrubby, perennial, and highly branched succulent, with initially fleshy, green stems that become woodier towards the base. Branches can be erect, spreading, or occasionally decumbent.

The leaves are opposite and decussate, ovate to lanceolate, fleshy, approximately 5–10 mm, though they can reach about 15 mm. The bases of each pair are fused, forming a small disk around the stem, although this fused area usually represents less than half the length of the leaf.

Its coloration is highly variable. Under normal conditions, they are green to grayish-green, but during summer, with high light intensity and rising temperatures, the margins can acquire red, pink, or yellow tones. This change is related to the displacement of chlorophyll to the inner layers of the leaf tissues during the warm period. This subspecies is much smaller, with a trailing habit and leaves that are extraordinarily close together compared to the rupestris subspecies.

🌍 Distribution, habitat, and family

Family Crassulaceae. It is endemic to South Africa and has a wide distribution across the Cape provinces, from the vicinity of Vanrhynsdorp and Namaqualand to the Cape Peninsula and the Eastern Cape. It grows primarily on rocky outcrops, stony slopes, and crevices in rock faces, often in exposed positions within Karoo, Succulent Karoo, Fynbos, and Albany Thicket vegetation. It is found at altitudes of approximately 50 to 1800 m.

The species is adapted to environments with a marked dry season and, in its western range, to a predominantly winter rainfall regime. This relationship between climate and growth cycle is important for establishing correct irrigation management.

❄️ Temperature

USDA Zone 9b–11b. It is a relatively cold-hardy succulent when dry and well-acclimated. Plants in protected locations can withstand episodes of low temperatures, but one should especially avoid the combination of cold, prolonged humidity, and poor ventilation.

☀️ Lighting

Very intense lighting is recommended, with a target of 15–25 mol·m⁻²·day⁻¹ of DLI PAR.

High light availability promotes compact growth and enhances the coloration of the leaf margins. With cool temperatures and high light, red and pink tones may appear; during summer, the combination of intense radiation and lower water availability can further accentuate these colors.

Specimens grown in low light should be progressively acclimated to direct sun.

💧 Growth cycle and watering

It is a Crassula adapted to mainly winter rains and a dry summer, and therefore exhibits its greatest activity during seasons with moderate temperatures.

During autumn, winter, and spring, while there is active growth, it is recommended to water abundantly and allow the substrate to dry completely before watering again.

With the arrival of summer, temperatures rise and water availability in its habitat decreases. The plant enters a summer dormancy or significant slowdown, during which irrigation should be considerably reduced. During the hottest periods, it can be kept practically dry, especially if nighttime temperatures are also high.

Frequent small waterings are not recommended during this period: when watering, do so sufficiently to moisten the substrate and then allow it to dry out completely.

🌸 Flowering

The flowers appear grouped in clearly pedunculated terminal inflorescences, forming small clusters. They are star-shaped and have a color that can range from pale pink to deep pink.

The nominal subspecies flowers mainly between June and October in South Africa, coinciding with the cool season. When cultivated in Spain, due to the seasonal inversion of the Northern Hemisphere, flowering can occur approximately between December and March, although the date may vary depending on temperature, lighting, and vegetative rhythm.

A particularly useful character to distinguish it from Crassula perforata is the presence, at the point where the inflorescence begins to branch, of spreading bracts generally larger than 3 mm. This character is much more reliable for identification than leaf appearance alone.

🌿 Nutrition

During the period of active growth, Desert CHOICE® Succulents is recommended. Before the formation of inflorescences, it can be supplemented with Desert CHOICE® Flowering.

Do not fertilize during summer dormancy or when temperatures are too high and the plant has clearly ceased its vegetative activity.

This is an inimitable xerophyte grown in Madrid in a technical square pot with the substrate activated with mycorrhizal fungi and biofungicides.

9x9 cm gourmet black pot

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