Jade confusion.
Internet searches for ‘Jade plants’ bring up only Crassula ovata but, at least in Queensland many people know Portulacaria arfra as the Jade plant.
The issue is confused by both having ‘Jade’ as/or in their common name.
Also Portulacaraia used to be in the Crassula genus with Portulacaria afra being know as Crassula portulacaria.
Using the main differentiating features below it should not be too difficult to tell them apart.
| Feature | Crassula ovata | Portulacaria afra | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common name | Jade | Dwarf or Small-leaf Jade. | |||
| Common form. | 0.5 to 1 m high shrubs | shrubs to 2 or 3 m | |||
| Maximum size. | around 3 m high | 15 m high in dense thickets | |||
| Leaf size. | to 7 cm long by 3 cm | most under 1.3 cm long | |||
| Leaf shape. | variable obovate broadly elliptic rounded | round, occasionally obovate | |||
| Inflorescences | Commonly seen | very rarely seen in cultivation | |||
| Flowers open | terminal first | lowest first | |||
| Calyx | 5 sepals | 2 sepals | |||
| Corolla | 5 pointed lobes | 4 or 5 | |||
| Petal colour | white +/- pink tints | pink to mauve |
The only difficulty could be with the dwarf forms of Crassula ovata that can have round leaves about the same size as those of Portulacaria afra.
As illustrated below their form is different.
J.F.
