Crassula brevifolia

A small (reaching 50cm in height), branching, perennial shrub.

It has distinctively short, thickly-succulent leaves, which are roughly triangular in cross-section but with slightly rounded angles (leaf-margins). It has flaking brown bark on its thin, woody stems.

This is a very variable species, with two subspecies and many regional forms.

• subsp. brevifolia. The type subsp. grows on exposed quartzitic or granite outcrops, from Namibia to as far south as Vanrhynsdorp. It has papillate ovaries (each with 18-24 ovules), and the leaves usually point upwards, between visible internodes.
• subsp. psammophila. A rarer subspecies that favours flatter sands or gravels near the Orange River in the Northern Cape Province.^[3]

This species is closely related to Crassula rupestris and Crassula perforata.^[4]