[3] It is a moderate to fast growing, mat-forming plant that features buxom, oval to round and deep green, opposite leaves, with one cultivar ('Purple Dragon') having purple undersides.

The plant blooms in winter in its native habitat with white to pinkish starry flowers with four petals and four sepals.

It also resists the lack of light and is a shade lover, but that can negatively affects its color or the quality of the flowers.

[5][page needed] The fairy crassula is a native of South Africa, particularly the mountainous regions of Natal, Eastern and Southern Cape.

There, it is found in forest margins, river and stream banks, and in coastal and subtropical thickets.