Crassula tetragona L.
Erect, glabrous subshrub 15-40-(50) cm high; stems 5-10 mm thick, becoming woody. Lvs sessile, decussate and ± imbricate but internodes clearly visible, not forming terminal rosettes, 13-33 × 6-8 mm, 4-6 mm thick, subterete with upper surface flattened and lower surface ± rounded, slightly angular, deep green, lacking hydathodes, ± upturned and falcate; apex acute. Infl. a ±rounded thyrse, somewhat corymbose, 2-5 cm across; main axis with small bracts. Fls 5-merous, 3-5 mm diam., usually numerous, subsessile or on pedicels to 3 mm long. Calyx 0.7-1 mm long; lobes broadly ovate or oblong-ovate. Corolla not star-like; petals free, spreading, 2-3 × 1-1.3 mm, elliptic-ovate or oblong-ovate, white, reflexed. Stamens and carpels (including styles) c. 2.5 mm long. Scales very small, semi-lunate. Seeds not seen and fls not replaced by plantlets in infl.
N.: Rangitoto Id (Auckland), Whakatane; S.: Nelson, Port Hills and around Lyttelton Harbour (Banks Peninsula).
South Africa 1959
Raw lava, volcanic soil, sometimes sand, on walls, banks and behind beaches.
As well as being wild, this sp. is a common relic of cultivation in hillside gardens in many coastal areas. N.Z. plants belong to subsp. robusta (Tölken) Tölken; its erect shrubby habit (Plate 12) distinguishes it from all other spp. wild here except C. coccinea but this has flat lvs and large reddish fls. Another feature of C. tetragona is the markedly fragrant fls. Probably commoner in cultivation in N.Z. is the related and hardier C. sarcocaulis Ecklon et C. Zeyher, a smaller subshrub than C. tetragona; the form in N.Z. has pink or deep pink fls and the whole plant is often suffused red.
