I can't help you with the rest, but that's Portulacaria afra. Not a crassula at all, though it's sometimes called Small Leaf Jade.

It looks as if your plant as suffered at times with a lack of sun. Then the shorter bushier areas got more sun.

If it were we becaue I like the trunks thick, and the plant short and full, I would cut them back almost to the main trunk and provide as much sunlight as possible, especially in the winter.

I guess cutting it will depend on what look you are striving for. Some may like the look of what you got. What do you like?

Your plant though, looks healthy, so I am not sure about the soil. That would be a biased opinion, since I grow mine without peat mixes and I hate peat for any of my succulents..

Mike

Indeed you're correct. Thank you for the clarification. I wonder why the greenhouse has it labeled as crassula. Thanks again!

Thanks Mike, I was thinking I'd like to try different things with the different plants. Get one of them bare and well shaped (preferably pointed upwards) with some large leaves on one end. The larger, bushier one I'll leave the way it is. I enjoy all of the greenery on it and of course it gives me great cuttings to start new ones. Thanks for the advice about the soils, what do you use Mike? I only recently switched to a cactus/succulent mix because it's drier. Silly me, I've been a one bag of soil (standard houseplant mix) kind of guy which has led to the suffering of some of my plants. Reading up on small leaf jades, I've found they do well in Phoenix (my hometown!) so I'm guessing I could stand to water them a lot less. I'll keep them in the sun and see what happens. Thanks!

I find that this plant, called Elephant's Food Bush (Portulacaria afra), uses more water than the Jade Plant, Crassula ovata.
It will do very well in the sun; however, you'll want to gradually acclimate it to full sun conditions, if it hasn't been in the sun before. It is a vigorous, rewarding plant. Last year, I rooted a good-sized Port. afra cutting, along with several Crassulas. Recently, I re-potted my Port. afra - I'll link to the Threads below. The titles mention Jades, but the Port. info and images are mingled throughout.
The last Thread is wholly devoted to this excellent plant. I hope it's a helpful start.

New Jade Cutting - (progress pics)

Jades and Jade Cuttings - Update pics!!!

Portulacaria afra - June 2010 re-pot

Josh

I agree with Mike, these plants need lots of sun to remain bushy.

Christopher

Josh thanks. Your plant looks amazing. How long did it take for it to get that large? I'm not sure I have the heart to cut back any of the original ones, but I'll work on a new cutting maybe. How do you get it to grow so straight up? And I like your soil advice. I will definitely try that.
I'll keep them in the sun, I think they'll do pretty well soon. Thank you all for the great advice.
Jose

My pleasure, Jose!
The cutting was fairly large to begin with, so I had an advantage there. I started the rooting process back in April of 2009, so I've only had this plant for a bit over a year. I've pruned it many times; and I've given away two successful cuttings. I have another rooted cutting planted in my garden directly (I have a hard time throwing away pieces I've pruned...). They're a lot of fun to propagate, shape, and give to friends.

Port. afras are prolific at back-budding. As the plants receive more sun, they'll automatically begin to re-leaf at bare nodes.
The re-leafing might also be increased if you pinch off the growing tips on the long branches.


Josh