Crassula ovata

English name: Jade plant/”Money tree”

Latin name: Crassula ovata

Family: Orpine/stonecrop - Crassulaceae

Origin: Republic of South Africa

The jade plant is a succulent that grows in natural conditions to 4 metres in height. The fleshy leaves, which grow in opposing pairs, are glossy and ovoid (egg-shaped); they have a rich jade green colour, sometimes with tinges of red on the edges, or underneath. Its tiny flowers, white or green, grow in fivefold symmetry. Only in older specimens do they appear at the ends of the shoots, in the autumn and winter periods. The jade is a very popular potted plant; in Poland and elsewhere, it is commonly called “the lucky” plant. It is often confused with the silver dollar plant (crassula arborescens), which is much less often found under cultivation.  The silver dollar plant has a similar habit, but differs in the round and not oval shape of its leaves, which are silver-blue in colour and not glossy.