Crassula multicava Lemaire, Crassulaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 12 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Cape Province pygmyweed, fairy crassula

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Herb 15-30 cm tall, stems sprawling with ends erect, unbranched or sparsely branched, with flaking waxy epidermis; leaves short-petiolate, upper pair subsessile, petioles winged, 0.5-1.5 cm long, lamina broadly elliptic to broadly ovate or subcircular, 1.8-5 x 1.5-3.8 cm, base obtuse to rounded or truncate, usually decurrent along petiole, apex obtuse to rounded, when fresh dull red-green above, dull whitish below, drying thick-chartaceous, both surfaces pitted with pellucid-punctate glands; flowers in paniculate cymes 14-16 x 4-6 cm, peduncles 7-10 cm long, branches reddish tinged; flowers on slender, minutely bracteolate pedicels 4-7 mm long; calyx lobes narrowly triangular, 0.8-1.5 x 0.8-1 mm, green; petals pale pink or white with pinkish tinge, narrowly ovate-oblong, 4-5 x 1-2 mm, stamens 3.5-4 mm long, styles 1.5 mm long, carpels 2 mm long; seeds brown, ellipsoid, 0.3-0.4 mm long; fruiting inflorescences proliferous, producing plantlets in axils of bracteoles"  (Lorence, Flynn & Wagner, 1995; p. 33).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i (Kaua‘i), "it has spread from cultivated plants and has become naturalized locally in the Kokee region along a road through eucalyptus plantings in mesic forest"  (Lorence, Flynn & Wagner, 1995; p. 33).  In New Zealand, "rock and concrete walls, banks, raw lava, crevices, volcanic cliff faces, usually in open places but sometimes in partial shade of scrub and tall herbs"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 575).

Propagation:  Vegetatively via plantlets produced by the fruiting inflorescences, possibly also by seed  (Lorence, Flynn & Wagner, 1995; p. 33).

Native range:  South Africa (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal) (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced cultivated	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced cultivated	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 479, 552)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 33) Vouchers cited: T. Flynn & D. Lorence 5535 (PTBG), K. R. Wood 3097 (PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lau, Alex/Frohlich, Danielle (2012) (pp. 13-14) Voucher cited: J. Beachy U.S. Army 134 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1940) (voucher ID: BISH 449506) Taxon name on voucher: Crassula multicava Lemaire
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1990) (voucher ID: BISH 553609) Taxon name on voucher: Crassula multicava Lemaire
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 42) Voucher cited: MacKee 36019

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) Naturalized around Sydney Harbour on disturbed bushland margins.
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 575)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Information from PlantzAfrica.

Additional online information about Crassula multicava is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Crassula multicava as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Crassula multicava may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1940. Voucher specimen #BISH449506(Neal, M.C. s.n.).

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1990. Voucher specimen #BISH553609(Staples, G.W. 535).

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Lau, Alex/Frohlich, Danielle. 2012. New plant records from O‘ahu for 2009. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2011. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 113:7-26.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.