An extremely variable species. The narrow, pointed, splayed ("propeller-like"[1]) leaves are initially a light green, but become a strong reddish colour in the sun.[2]
The leaves are stacked, and near the base of the rosette they are larger. Near the top of a rosette, the leaves gradually get smaller and change into floral bracts, as the stem forms a long, pointed inflorescence.[3]
It is a small, succulent herb (15–40 cm in height) - with stems that are either erect or rambling and mat-forming. Each stem forms roots at its internodes, which take root if the stem lies against the ground.
C.capitella is mostly biennial, blooming in the summer, with small, white, star-shaped flowers forming all around each thick, upright stem.
[4][5]
It grows to a height of about 6 inches tall, and will be damaged when exposed to temperatures below Шаблон:Convert.[5]
Cultivation
Crassula capitella prefer full sun to partial shade, average watering needs, and shouldn't be exposed to temperatures below Шаблон:Convert.[5][6] It may suffer from foliage edema, which may be the result of rapid changes in moisture.[5]
Crassula capitella subsp. meyeri: a decumbent subspecies from the sandy coastline of KwaZulu-Natal[4]
Crassula capitella subsp. nodulosa: a perennial shrub with one or two rosettes on hairy stems.[4]
Crassula capitella subsp. sessilicymula: a perennial shrub (40 cm) with a woody trunk and branched inflorescence.[4]
Crassula capitella subsp. thyrsiflora: a perennial shrub with multiple pinkish-red rosettes, that become stacked in a pagoda form ("red pagoda") and an unbranched spike inflorescence. From the Western Cape Province[4]
