Sinocrassula yunnanensis

Photos by Mark Leichty

Every year as Halloween approaches, I start thinking about decorations for the holiday. I’ve literally grown hundreds of beautiful large pumpkins this year that will be taken home by employees here at Little Prince of Oregon Nursery. I also planted thousands of feet of sweet corn, and after the succulent ears have been harvested, the dried stalks make great decorations. However, as a plantsman, I also love creating containers using plants with dark foliage. I’m getting in touch with my inner horticultural goth.

Thanks to wonderful plant breeders around the world, the nursery is full of beautiful plants with dark, even black foliage. These plants have high levels of Anthocyanins in their vascular tissues. Anthocyanins make blueberries blue, and blackberries black, and give many ornamentals a rich dark purple or even black foliage color. Out of all the choices I have this year for some ultra-goth, ghoulish containers, I’m choosing Sinocrassula yunnanensis, a diminutive succulent native to the Yunnan Province of southern China.

Sinocrassula yunnanensis is commonly called the hedgehog succulent because its symmetrical compact form with densely packed pointed leaves resembles a hedgehog. It is also referred to as Chinese Jade plant. It grows in well-draining rocky soils at elevations from 8,000 to 9,000 feet in the mountainous terrain of Yunnan and into northern Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Because of this high elevation, it is quite hardy. It can reportedly tolerate temperatures as low as 0° F. Like all succulents that survive cold weather, they must be protected from excessive moisture and be planted in well-drained soil. Upon close examination, each succulent leaf is covered with tiny hairs to help the plant collect moisture in the dry season. This is a wonderfully unusual succulent. Channel your inner goth and add this great plant to your collection.