Crassula ovata (Miller) Druce, Crassulaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Low risk, score: -4 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Cotyledon ovata Mill.; Crassula argentea Thunb.; Crassula portulacea Lam.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: baby jade, cauliflower-ears, dollarplant, jade plant, jade tree, Japanese rubberplant, Japanese-laurel

Habit:  succulent

Description:  "A large, much branched, completely glabrous, very floriferous shrub, 0·6-3 m. or more high. Stem up to 20 cm. in diameter at the base, subterete, succulent, greyish; branches denuded, ± marked with the scars of the fallen leaves. Leaves 2-5 x 1-3 cm., obovate or broadly elliptical to obovate-spathulate, shortly acuminate and acute or subrounded at the top, entire and reddish at the sharply edged margin, attenuate towards a subpetiolar base, subconnate when young, free with age, fleshy, flattened, slightly concave above and slightly convex beneath, with nectary dots in one row on both sides near the margin (but dots also scattered on both surfaces), green and shining when fresh, dark brown and ± covered with a micaceous caducous peeling layer when dry, ± condensed at the extremities of the branchlets, longer than the internodes. Flowers 5-merous, arranged in terminal, ± dense to loose corymbose, pedunculate inflorescences; peduncles 1-4 cm. long; pedicels 4.5-8 mm. long. Calyx ± 5 mm. in diameter, campanulate to nearly saucer-shaped; sepals 1.15 mm. high and ± 1·5 mm. broad at the base, broadly triangular, acute, connate for ± 1 mm., separated by a rounded sinus, fleshy, their external surface similar to that of the leaves. Corolla white or faintly rose; petals (5) 6.25-7.5 (10) mm. long, oblong or lanceolate, keeled, acute, mucronate at the apex, slightly connate at the base, spreading. Stamen-filaments 4-5.5 mm. long; anthers fertile c. 0·5 mm. broad, transverse-oblong, or sterile c. 0·75 mm. long and oblong or lanceolate. Follicles 3-3.25 mm. long, obliquely oblong-ovoid; styles 2-3 mm. long, filiform. Scales broader than long"  (Flora Zambesiaca online).

Habitat/ecology:  In its native range, "in open forests, on sandy-clayey grey soil"  (Flora Zambesiaca online).

Propagation:  Seed?

Native range:  South Africa, Mozambique (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (pp. 32-33) Voucher cited: T. Flynn & D. Lorence 5489 (PTBG) "Naturalized locally on cliffs".
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1950) (voucher ID: BISH 47806) Taxon name on voucher: Crassula ovata (Miller) Druce

Additional information:
Fact sheet from the Los Angeles Regional Invasive Ornamental Plant Guide (PDF format).

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

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

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

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1950. Voucher specimen #BISH47806(Neal, M.C.; collector's voucher number unknown).

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.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

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.