Plants of
South Australia
Crassula sieberiana
Crassulaceae
Australian Stonecrop,
Sieber's Crassula
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Prior names

Tillaea verticillaris

Tillaea sieberana

Crassula sieberiana ssp. sieberiana

Common names

Australian Stonecrop

Sieber's Crassula

Etymology

Crassula the diminutive of the Latin 'crassus' meaning thick, alluding to the fleshy leaves and branches. Sieberiana named after Franz Wilhelm Sieber (1789-1844), a Bohemian botanist and collector who travelled to Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and Australia.

Distribution and status

Found only in southern Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia growing on rock ledges and in crevices and on seasonally inundated ground. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Very rare in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium region: Southern Lofty
NRM region: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Tiny erect herb to ankle high with succulent paired leaves. Flowers white or pink; small, fleshy, usually one flower per group, on a long thin stalk. Flowers in spring and summer. Fruits are small red-brown capsules in clusters along the stems. Seeds are brown ellipsoid seed to 0.6 mm long and 0.2 mm wide, with a tuberculate surface.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and February. 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. From two collections, the seed viability was high, ranging from 85% to 95%.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB

21,000 (0.37 g)
507-Jan-2008RJB76844
Southern Lofty
100%
BGA68,000 (0.99 g)1023-Oct-2007RJB75032
Southern Lofty
19-Sep-200895%+5°C, -18°C
BGA91,000 (1.1 g)50+23-Jan-2008DJD1046
Southern Lofty
19-Sep-200885%+5°C, -18°C
BGA14,500 (0.41 g)12-Apr-2008KHB
Southern Lofty
1-Jan-201615%-18°C
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.