What is Jade Plant?

The jade plant is also known as the money tree, the money plant, or the lucky plant. It’s mostly grown indoors and in most Asian cultures, is used to symbolize luck, friendship, and prosperity. It’s considered good feng shui to keep a Jade plant by the door. People believe that it welcomes money into the home. This plant is a popular gift given during various festivals.

The Crassula ovata produces small pink or white flowers. Even though it’s common as a houseplant worldwide, it’s native to the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa and Mozambique.

The friendship plant generally grows to a size of 3-5 inches but does so very slowly; only growing about 2 inches annually.

Types of Jade plants you can find in the flower markets

The money plant is an easy-care type of “mini-tree” that has different varieties growing in various parts of the world. Some of the different species of the jade plant are rare and expensive while others are cheap and easily available. Overall, there are 1,400 types of Jade plants. 

Crassula ovata is considered to be the true Jade plant and may also be referred to as Crassula argentea or Crassula portulaca. Other common varieties of the Jade family include:

• Tricolor 
• Variegata
• Sunset
• Monstruosa
• Red
• Copper
• Blue Bird
• Ripple Leaf