CG,

Not a question you see in the subject line often, so bravo for that.

I don't know the answer to your question, though - someone else will - but thanks for the laugh.

CactusMCharris, you're quite welcome. :)

Could be... ;-)

...a 'Hummel's Sunset,' that is.
Honestly, it's hard to tell when they're green. Judging by the pic, I'd say No.
However, if the parent plant looks like the linked image, then there's little question.

Usually, I expect the stems to have more red coloration.

Josh

Regular jade leaves are spoony and have rounded margins. Hummel's Sunset has flatter, sharper-edged leaves, and generally looks more... lean? The dark spots (visible most on the large rightmost leaf in the second pic) on the leaves are something I've never seen on regular Jade leaves, although perhaps they're there and just don't show up with the deep green.

I think HS colours come in slowly and fade quickly. Keep the cutting shaded until it roots, then you can work on getting the colour back.

Josh - are you thinking of something more like this (red stems)?
{{gwi:642265}}

Sutremain - I think the spots you're seeing are the stomata. :)

Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking... ;-)

Is that a cutting from the same plant?

Josh

Josh,

I'm not sure, to be honest. I got the bulk of my jade (some of which I gave to my mother) maybe a year or two ago from a woman who was cutting back her trees. (Literally. TREES.) I don't recall, though, if she had multiple varieties, or if they were all the same. The parent plant that I got the cutting from lives at my parents' house, and has that lovely coloring as shown in the one photo. A lot of of my personal collection is from the same batch; but none of my jade have the coloring of the one at my folks'. Then again, all of my jade are kept indoors, because I live in the desert; my mother's are all outdoors in full sun, because she lives in a far more temperate climate. The photo I posted, the jade with the red stems, that guy sits on a south-facing windowsill, and in the afternoon gets direct sunlight. I have a few others on the windowsill as well, but their leaves haven't changed color. The bulk of my jade are all green, with just a touch of red in the margins on the ones that get direct sunlight.

Do you think maybe it's an argentinea?

CG

Careful..step on crack, break your momma's back. Or at least snap a Jade branch...

I am willing to bet it is a hummels. Hummels will change color according to climate. If it is outside and the temps are cool enough at night it will have nice hummels colors, when inside it will likely have mostly green. One of the biggest indicators I know of with the hummels is like Josh said the red stem/trunk. Being in the desert does not mean you cant put your jades outside, they love hot weather and can take cold down in the 30w long as they do not freeze. In the cooler temps hummels get brilliant colors.

Both my hummels are getting nice color from out cooler temps now.

Mary

Prayerrock,

I did put some of my jade outside when I first moved here. What I didn't do was allow them to acclimate to the merciless sun - I just stuck them right out in the full sunlight, and they burned to a crisp. I suppose I could keep them outdoors if I provided some shade, but after that experience, I didn't want to chance it. I put cacti out there, and THEY burned.

I have a handful of succulents I keep outside on a small table under the shade of the front awning, and they seem to be doing alright. 3 Portulacaria afra (one variagata), one Gasteria, a Golden Barrel cactus, a Thimble cactus, and my little mystery Echinopsis. I've seen a few neighbors with beautiful, bushy Portulacarias out in the full sun, year-round, and I don't understand how they don't burn; I'm too afraid I'll lose mine if I try to put them out in the sun like that.

CG

They don't burn because they're used to it. Acclimitisation will take you a way, but after a certain point only growth produced under the harder conditions will be able to take those conditions. For instance, soft-grown cacti will respond to tougher conditions by browning up and / or accordioning their old growth, but this is limited by what's already there. I have one plant that should be able to turn from a flattened globe into a cowpat, but because the nursery growth is less craggy there isn't enough 'slack' to allow the plant to drop down.

It's likely that your non-variegated Portulacaria have the potential to take the sun in your new area, but the growth they've put out so far can't ever become tough enough to do so. I'm not sure about the variegated one, though it could work if given shading from another plant.

OK! I finally got some photos of the parent plant that I thought was a Sunset, but then thought maybe wasn't, but then thought maybe was... I present to you for your discernment. :)

{{gwi:642266}}

{{gwi:642267}}

{{gwi:642268}}

{{gwi:642269}}

{{gwi:642270}}

{{gwi:642271}}

{{gwi:642272}}

What do y'all think?

CG

I think it is a beautiful Jade!
But I don't think it is a 'Hummel's Sunset.'
Thank you for these excellent pics!

Josh

Josh, what do you think it is? I'm really curious now. :)

Well, it's good to see pictures! Now we know what it's not...but I'm still super glad about the exchange. The parent plant is extremely pretty.

Colleen

Thanks, Colleen. I really hope the cutting I sent you colors out like its parent, once you've got it rooted and settled in its new home. :)

CG

I hope so too. It's getting verbal encouragement. I suspect your mailing refund should be right on its way. :)

Good morning!

CG, it looks to me like a well-colored standard Crassula ovata.
There are many names out there for varieties that may or may not be distinct cultivars.
Some day I hope to have a database to keep track of all these Jades.

Maybe this is what the alleged Crassula ovata 'California Red Tip' looks like....

Josh