Plants of
South Australia
Crassula peduncularis
Crassulaceae
Purple Stonecrop,
Purple Crassula
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Vulnerable
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
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Oodnadatta
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Wudinna
Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Tillaea peduncularis

Tillaea purpurata

Crassula bonariensis

Crassula purpurata

Common names

Purple Stonecrop

Purple Crassula

Etymology

Crassula the diminutive of the Latin 'crassus' meaning thick, alluding to the fleshy leaves and branches. Peduncularis from Latin meaning flower-stalk, referring to its long flower stalk.

Distribution and status

Found scattered across the part of southern South Australia the Eyre Peninsula, Flinders Ranges to the South-east, growing on mud around standing water, often associated with rock pools. Also found in all states except in the Northern Territory. Native. Uncommon in South Australia. Rare in Queensland. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect or decumbent annuals or short-lived herbs with fleshy, pinkish white, white to purple stems to 6 cm long, often rooting at nodes, usually forming dense cushions. Leaves linear-lanceolate, to 4.5 mm long and 0.6 mm wide, fleshy, dark green, yellow-green to pink, flattened above, convex beneath. Inflorescence with single flower in the axils of leaf-like bracts on a pedicels elongating to 10 mm long when fruiting. Flowering between August and October. Fruiting capsules smooth, recurving at the apex, splitting along the whole length and opening up so widely that they are easily confused with the slightly smaller petals. Seeds are tiny brown oblong to 0.3 mm long and 0.1 mm wide, with several longitudinal ridges.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between September and November. Collect whole plants that are drying off, turning red-brown with mature fruit-spikes. These will contain very small brown seeds when rubbed with your fingers. Place the plants in a tray and leave to dry for two weeks. Then rub the plants gently by hand or with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Be very careful as the seeds are very small. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seed viability is usually high.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)		Number
of plants		Date
collected		Collection number
Collection location		Date
stored		% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB
11,000 (0.06 g)		1-Dec-2006RJB70943
Southern Lofty
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
We acknowledge the contributions of the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre, the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, and the Department for Environment and Water.