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.
Variation 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.
Related species This species is closely related to
Crassula rupestris and
Crassula perforata. ==References==