''Crassula biplanata'' is a

succulent plant In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meanin ...

native to rocky ledges and mountainous areas in the southern parts of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

(the

Cape Provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sou ...

Description

Small (up to 30 cm), branching succulent perennial, with distinctive papillose internodes on its c.0,4cm diameter stem and tiny, gray-green, lanceolate leaves. The leaves become more silver-coloured in direct sunlight. Delicate tubular, white flowers appear in clusters in late Summer. The petals are distinctively long (4-6 mm).

Related species

This species has several close relatives, with which it is sometimes confused, namely: '' Crassula ericoides'', '' Crassula tetragona'', ''Crassula planifolia'' and '' Crassula sarcocaulis''.

Distribution

It occurs from near

Franschhoek Franschhoek (; Afrikaans for "French Corner", Dutch spelling before 1947 ''Fransche Hoek'', French: ''Le Coin Français'') is a small town in the Western Cape Province and one of the oldest towns in South Africa. It was formerly known as Oliph ...

in the west, in mountainous areas throughout the

Little Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent i ...

and

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the e ...

regions, as far east as

Humansdorp Humansdorp is a town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, with a population of around 29,000 as of the 2011 Census. It is part of the Kouga Local Municipality of the Sarah Baartman District. History The town is the centre of the district's l ...

in the

Eastern Cape Province The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. Its habitat is usually shallow soil on rocky ledges or very rocky soil on lower mountain slopes. It is sometimes also found in rock cracks in mountain ranges at higher altitude. In exposed positions the plants are smaller, often decumbent, and can be covered in a dense silvery waxy powder.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15482364 biplanata Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus