Crassula coccinea

Crassula coccinea, the red crassula or in Afrikaans klipblom (stone flower) and keiserskroon (emperor’s crown), is an erect leaf succulent growing thick branches, reaching heights around 60 cm.

Several plants bearing bright red flowers, including the red crassula, are found among the cliffs and crevices of Cape fynbos covered mountains. The mountain pride butterfly, Meneris tulbaghia, a specialist pollinator of red flowers, beats the casual hiker to them, but the competition goes unnoticed. It is a large brown butterfly with long proboscis for reaching nectar in the deep corolla tube of C. coccinea, simultaneously pollinating it… all because insects don’t wash between flower visits.

The species distribution ranges from the Cape Peninsula to Paarl and Stilbaai in the southern Cape. Table Mountain is part of the red crassula's domain.

The habitat is quartzite sandstone outcrops, mainly above altitudes of 800 m. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century. 

This photo was taken in a Cape garden where the klipblom will readily grow. The Cape gardeners' companion, the ubiquitous garden snail was in attendance for the photo (Manning, 2007; iNaturalist; https://pza.sanbi.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).

!