Imagine that you're a contestant on "Jeopardy!" The category is "five-letter words," and the answer is "totally lacking in sensitivity or refinement." Your question is, "What is crass?" The original meaning of crass in Latin--now rare--was coarse, thick, or dense. Thus, you can understand how this term was transformed into a botanical description meaning thick or fleshy.
The root crassus, combined with other Latin or latinized words, gives us many useful compound words, which et tu can apply.
crassicaulis = thick-stemmed (L. caulis = stem)
Example:
In western North America, Sanicula crassicaulis is a widespread herbaceous species of the carrot family (Apiaceae)--on which Mildred Mathias was a world-renowned expert. In Latin, Sanicula means to heal. Sanicula crassicaulis is the largest (that is, the most robust) plant of this genus in California, attaining a height of more than one meter; hence, it also has the thickest axes.
crassifolius = thick-leaved (L. folius = leaf, as in a leaf of a book or manuscript)
Examples:
Ceanothus crassifolius, the hornyleaf ceanothus, is a native Southern California shrub with thick evergreen leaves. Ceanothus means thistle.
Pittosporum crassifolium is an evergreen New Zealand tree with leathery leaves that are thicker than those of other species in the genus. The generic name Pittosporum comes from two Greek words: pitta, which means pitch; and spora, which means seed--referring to the sticky coating on the seeds. Ulmus crassifolia is an Asian species of elm (in Latin, ulmus).
crassipes = thick-footed, thick-stalked
Eichhornia crassipes, water-hyacinth, is a widespread, weedy, floating aquatic plant of the tropics. The very thick, spongy, and often inflated petioles of the leaves give this plant its buoyancy. The genus commemorates J. A. F. Eichhorn (1779-1856), a famous Prussian statesman.
crassula = somewhat thickened, a diminutive form of crassus
Crassula is a genus of approximately 200 species, especially well developed in South Africa. Most species are leaf succulents; hence they have thick, fleshy leaves. The most commonly cultivated species is the jade plant, Crassula ovata, whose leaves are ovate-shaped and trimmed in red. The silver jade plant, Crassula arborescens, is generally not a tree, as its name suggests, although it certainly looks like a miniature tree. Its vertically held leaves are silvery gray trimmed in red. These and other species of crassulas, as well as other member of the family Crassulaceae, are grown at MEMBG next to the lathhouse.
JULIE RASKOFF, MEMBG Docent