Mini pine tree crassula, related to jade, is a carefree succulent I've grown for 20+ years. The botanical name, Crassula tetragona, refers to the three-sided shape of the leaves.
Crassula tetragona at left, with blue Senecio mandraliscae and aeoniums in bloom.
What I enjoy about this stem succulent is its resemblance to a fir tree. Along upright stalks grow slender, pointed green leaves that curve slightly up and are smaller toward the top. Over time, cuttings branch, forming a shrub.
I glued little beads to leaf tips for a holiday tabletop display.
Cuttings root easily. As with most stem succulents, cut off the top few inches and stick cuttings upright in soil. Make sure the bands on the trunks (where old leaves were attached) are buried. From those bands, new roots will form.
Like many crassulas, mini pine tree blooms in midwinter.
Less frost tender than jades (Crassula ovata and cultivars), mini pine tree is undamaged in my garden into the high 20s F. It forms a polite green bush, not too large, with a textural silhouette. Like jade, it's a great filler plant, but perhaps more interesting to look at. Certainly it's not as common.
Crassula tetragona, foreground, in a Southern CA garden that includes aloes (in bloom), yuccas and jade (behind it).
However, I'm most fond of Crassula tetragona because individual stems do indeed look like mini pine trees. This makes it an good addition to a miniature succulent garden, like my Guatemalan mountain scene, shown here and in my book, Designing with Succulents (2nd ed).
Cuttings of Crassula tetragona make little buildings look huge.
I used Crassula tetragona in my Succulent Sleigh greeting card, available from Succulent Chic, my Zazzle store.
Like many succulents, new leaves form at the tops of the stems and old leaves wither and fall off. This is normal, but eventually you're left with tall, denuded stems topped with clusters of leaves. If you don't like the look, prune the shrubs once a year so stems branch. Or if you're a lazy gardener like me, simply stick a metal fish in their midst.
A fish made from repurposed materials looks right at home amid my overgrown Crassula tetragona.
Related info on this site
Crassula (Jade and More): Details, Photos and Varieties
Crassulas are among the easiest, most trouble-free succulents to grow, with one caveat: With few exceptions, they’re frost-tender (tend to be damaged when temperatures drop below 32 degrees F). Shrub varieties are very easy to start from cuttings, and stacked jades will send forth whiskery roots from between their tight leaves—simply snip off the stem and bury in potting soil so that roots are covered (it’s OK to bury a few leaves too). Crassulas, like aloes, also stress beautifully to shades of red, yellow and orange. Give variegated varieties adequate sun or they’ll revert to solid green.
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