Tag: garden

Steatoda nobilis

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Steatoda nobilis

Thursday is yard work day, when we fill two green bins with oak leaves and offcuts, chipping away at the accumulation that’s been filling the carport. As I shovelled the leaves into the bin, lots of fat false widow spiders crawled out of the mulch, including this seven-legged mama.

Steatoda nobilis is native to Madeira and the Canary Islands from where it is thought to have spread to Europe, and continued to spread to other parts of the world including the United States, Chile and Colombia. It is now regarded as one of the most invasive spider species globally. It is considered moderately medically significant, with most bites causing symptoms comparable to those of a bee or wasp sting.

Crassula ovata

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Crassula ovata

Crassula ovata, commonly known as jade plant, lucky plant, money plant or money tree, is a succulent with small pink or white flowers, native to South Africa and Mozambique. It grows as an upright, rounded, thick-stemmed, strongly branched shrub and reaches a height of up to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft).

Here in Southern California, it propagates easily and grows happily with minimal water. Our neighbour has covered her steep downslope with jade by merely tossing cuttings down the hill. It produces small white or pink, star-like shaped flowers in winter, which we’re enjoying now.