Crassula multicava (fairy crassula)

Japanese name: クラッスラ ムルチカバ
Scientific name: Crassula multicava

[Overview]
A succulent evergreen perennial.
The stems are erect or creeping and grow to about 30–50 cm long, and the plant is about 15–30 cm tall.
The leaves are simple and opposite, ovate to elliptic, 4–5 cm long and 2.5–3 cm wide, thick and fleshy, with margins often tinged red; they are marked all over with slightly darker spots, and the spotted areas are slightly sunken.
They have short petioles.
An inflorescence is borne at the end of a reddish flower stalk about 10 cm long arising from the stem tip, bearing star-shaped 4-petaled flowers 0.8–1 cm across, pale pink to white.
The buds are pink.
Adventitious buds form on the inflorescence, and the plant also propagates by them.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, stem cuttings, leaf cuttings or adventitious buds.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, well-ventilated environment.
It can overwinter outdoors if protected from frost and cold wind.
Place pots on a shelf or similar so air can reach the bottom, and move them out of the rain during long rainy spells.
Water thoroughly only after the soil in the pot has dried all the way through.
Little fertilizer is needed; apply a small amount of slow-release fertilizer in spring.
Pests and diseases include rust, black spot, soft rot and scale insects.

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