Jade Plant
Crassula ovata · Money Plant
It grows on hot, dry, rocky hillsides in South Africa, alongside aloes and euphorbias, storing water in fleshy leaves. Like a desert plant, it breathes backwards: it keeps its pores shut by day and opens them at night.
Family
Crassulaceae
Origin
South Africa
In the wild
Rocky dry hillsides
Indoors
0.45–0.75 m
Growth
Slow
With pets
Toxic
Where it's from
Eastern South Africa and southern Mozambique
Dryland thicket
Native to the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique, on rocky hillsides with aloes and euphorbias.
Outdoors: zones 11–12
Frost-tender. A year-round garden plant only in frost-free climates; elsewhere it summers outside and comes in.
Secure everywhere
Assessed Least Concern; SANBI notes it is widespread and not declining. Abundant in the wild and as a houseplant.
A tiny tree that breathes backwards
Being a CAM plant, it keeps its pores shut all day to save water and opens them at night to take in carbon dioxide, storing it as acids until dawn. That is how a succulent sits happily on a dry, sunny windowsill for decades. Drop one leaf on the soil and it grows a whole new tree.
A leaf becomes a plant
A single dropped leaf will callus, root and grow on its own, one of the easiest succulents to multiply.
A windowsill bonsai
It branches into a gnarled, trunk-like base and reads as a miniature tree.
The money-plant gift
Given worldwide as a feng-shui plant for luck, money and friendship, and prized for living for decades.
How to keep it
LightBright light
Tolerates part shade, but colours and flowers best in strong light with some afternoon shade.
WaterLet soil dry out
Water sparingly, and even less in the autumn and winter rest. Overwatering causes leaf drop and stem rot.
HumidityDry air is fineThrives in dry air. No misting.
TemperatureWarm roomA warm-room plant, not frost-hardy. Hardy outdoors only in the warmest zones.
SoilCactus / succulent mixGritty and fast-draining. It will not tolerate soggy soil.
FeedingLight, in growing seasonA light general feed monthly in spring and summer only.
DifficultyEasyForgiving and long-lived. A good beginner succulent that thrives on a little neglect.
With petsToxicToxic to cats, dogs and horses. The exact compound is unknown. Vomiting, lethargy and incoordination if eaten.
PropagationLeaf or stem cuttingsTake a whole leaf or a stem, let the cut dry a day or more, then root in a dry-ish mix.
RepottingRarelyEvery few years. It likes being a touch pot-bound.
What the data says
What it costs
Cheap and mass-produced as a plain species; named sports edge into a modest collector layer.
$5–15
Plain jade
Small plants and cuttings, in every garden centre.
$8–46
'Gollum'
A monstrose sport with tubular, trumpet-shaped leaves, priced by size.
$5–15Plain jade
$8–46'Gollum'
Variegated forms like 'Variegated Gollum' command more, but nowhere near the variegated-Monstera bubble.
The clean-air myth
Jade plants are frequently listed as air-purifying, riding the famous 1989 NASA sealed-chamber study.
100–1,000
plants would be needed to match the air a building's ventilation already moves (Cummings and Waring, 2019). As a CAM plant it does release some oxygen at night, but the real purification effect is essentially zero.
IUCN · Least Concern
In the wild
The calm end of the conservation map. In no danger anywhere.
SANBI assesses it Least Concern, widespread and not declining. It is one of the most widely cultivated succulents on Earth, abundant in the wild and ubiquitous as a houseplant, with no threats of note.
When it sulks
Soft, mushy, dropping leavesOverwatering, the number one killer. Also shock from cold tap water.
Stem and root rotWet, poorly drained soil. Use a gritty mix and water less.
Leggy, stretched growthToo little light. It needs strong light for compact growth and a red leaf blush.
No red blush, no flowersNot enough light, or no cool, dry, bright winter rest.
PestsMealybugs, scale, aphids and spider mites. Treat early.
Varieties & company
The varieties
Hummel's SunsetGollumHobbitTricolorVariegated Gollum
Pairs with · keep apart from
Snake PlantCactiAloeMonsteraFernsCalathea
A new plant, every week.
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