Commonly known as jade plant, friendship tree, lucky plant or Money Plant, Crassula is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers. It is native to South Africa, and is common as a houseplant worldwide. Jades are evergreen plants with thick branches and smooth, rounded, fleshy leaves that grow in opposing pairs along the branches. Leaves are a rich jade green; some varieties may develop a red tinge on the edges of leaves when exposed to high levels of sunlight. New stem growth is the same color and texture as the leaves, but becomes brown and woody with age. Under the right conditions, they may produce small white or pink star-like flowers in early spring. The jade plant lends itself easily to the bonsai form and is popular as an indoor bonsai.
Care: As succulents, they require normal watering when the soil is dry in the summer and very little watering in the winter. They will grow in full sun to light shade. However, they do not tolerate extreme heat or overexposure to direct sun very well, showing damage ranging from scorched leaves to loss of foliage and rotting stems. Most of the common species will tolerate a limited degree of frost but overexposure to cold weather will kill them.
