Crassula ovata

Jade plant

Family: Crassulaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Jade plant is a non-native shrub found in southern California coastal areas, persisting from cultivation and at dump sites at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from December to February, this plant produces delicate white flowers tinged with pink, spreading in compact panicles. Growing with multiple erect stems up to 50 centimeters tall and 20 centimeters in diameter, it develops silvery smooth bark on younger branches. Its bright green leaves grow in multiple pairs, with obovate blades 20 to 70 millimeters long, featuring rounded tips and entire margins. The plant produces small ovoid fruits containing 30 to 50 oblong seeds with distinctive rows of pointed papillae.

Habitat: Persisting from cultivation and at dump sites, wildland-urban interface, generally along coast

Bloom period: Dec-Feb

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: SCo

California counties: San Diego, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Luis Obispo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.