CRASSULAS | 197 
armed shrub, 4 to 8 feet high. Leaves heart-shaped, five-lobed, toothed, 
somewhat smooth above, woolly beneath. Flowers deep rosy, in long 
downy racemes, appearing before the leaves in early spring. Introduced 
from California (1826.) 
R. spEciosuM (showy). Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry. Stems 6 to 
8 feet high (less in a wild state), the branches bristly, spines in threes 
below the axils. Leaves somewhat three-lobed with wedge-shaped base, 
smooth. Flowers deep red, with stamens twice their length, produced in 
threes; May. Introduced from California (1829). 
Nothing could be simpler than the cultivation of these 
plants. Almost any piece broken off and stuck in the soil 
will root. Properly-made cuttings are as easy to strike, and the pliant 
stems if layered root readily. Soil is of little moment. R. speciosum is 
a beautiful wall plant. 
Cultivation. 
CRASSULAS 
Natural Order CrassuLacEx. Genus Rochea 
RocHEA (name commemorative of M. de la Roche, a French botanist). 
A genus comprising about four species of fleshy shrubs, with opposite 
fleshy leaves, connate at the base, quite entire. The flowers are borne in 
terminal umbellate cymes; white, pink, or searlet in colour. The calyx 
is five-lobed, the corolla tubular, salver-shaped, five-parted. Stamens 
five; carpels five. The species are restricted to the Cape of Good Hope. - 
Rochea coccinea, the only well-known species, was first 
brought to England in the year 1710 from Table Mountain, 
South Africa; R. odoratissima came from the same neighbourhood in 
1793, R. jasminea in 1815, and R. versicolor a couple of years later, 
None of these can be said to be widely grown by amateurs, though 
the professional growers turn out large quantities of R. coccinea and 
Rh. jasminea in bloom for decorative purposes. The reason for this 
neglect is to be found in the necessity for a hot-house in order to grow 
them well—unless one is a cottager, and possesses one of those deep 
window recesses where so many good things thrive. 
RocHEA coccinea (scarlet). Stems 1 to 3 feet high. 
Leaves ovate-oblong, half-clasping the stem. Flowers 
searlet, an inch long ; June to August. Plate 93. : 
____ RB. gasminea (Jasmine-like). Stems leaning upon the ground. 
Leaves lance-shaped, blunt. Flowers in shape much like those of the 
Jasmine ; white at tirst, afterwards turning reddish; April and May. 
A series of hybrids between Crassula Jaleata and R. jasmine in 
ll.—9 
History. 
Species. 
