Tylecodon wallichii

Tylecodon wallichii
	Tylecodon wallichii in Montagu.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Crassulaceae
Genus:	Tylecodon
Species:	T. wallichii
Binomial name
	Tylecodon wallichii; (Harv.) Toelken
Synonyms
	Cotyledon wallichii Harv. ; Tylecodon papillaris subsp. wallichii (Harv.) G.D.Rowley;

Tylecodon wallichii is a species of succulent plant in the genus Tylecodon belonging to the family Crassulaceae.^[1] The species is named in honour of Nathaniel Wallich, early 19th century Danish plant hunter, botanist and physician.

Description

Tylecodon wallichii is a low sparsely branched shrublet reaching a height of about 50 cm (up to 1 m) with a single thick succulent stem up to 6 cm in diameter. Greyish branches are densely covered with residual leaf bases (phyllopodia) up to 1.5 cm long and crowded leaves on their tips. Leaves are yellowish to ash-green, hairless, ascending, slightly curved inward, tapering towards the apex, with a shallow groove along upper side, 6.5 — 9.5 cm (up to 15 cm) long. Plants blossom during summer, producing spreading to pendent clusters of dangling yellowish-green, urn-shaped flowers of 7-12 mm long with spreading to recurved lobes.^[2]^[3]

It hybridises with Tylecodon paniculatus.^[4]

Distribution

Gravelly or sandy slopes of South Namibia and RCA from Namaqualand into the Great and Little Karoo.^[1]

Toxicity

The plant contains bufadienolide-type cardiac glycoside cotyledoside which causes nenta poisoning ("krimpsiekte") in livestock.^[5]

Subspecies

Tylecodon wallichii subsp. wallichii — South Namibia, RCA (Northern Cape)
Tylecodon wallichii subsp. ecklonianus (Harv.) Toelken — South Namibia, RCA (Northern and Western Cape)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Tylecodon wallichii (Harv.) Toelken". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^ Eggli, Urs (2003). Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Crassulaceae. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 364. ISBN 978-3-642-55874-0.
^ F. Smith, Gideon; R Crouch, Neil; Figueiredo, Estrela (2017). Field Guide to Succulents of Southern Africa. Penguin Random House South Africa. p. 320. ISBN 9781775843672.
^ Manning, John C.. (2013). Field guide to wild flowers of South Africa. Cape Town: Random House Struik. p. 236. ISBN 9781920544874.
^ Kellerman, T. S.; Coetzer, J. A. W.; Naudé, T. W.; Botha, C. J. (2005). Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in southern Africa (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 116–146. ISBN 978-0195761344.

External links

[kew-1] "Tylecodon wallichii (Harv.) Toelken". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved 21 January 2022.

[2] Eggli, Urs (2003). Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Crassulaceae. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 364. ISBN 978-3-642-55874-0.

[3] F. Smith, Gideon; R Crouch, Neil; Figueiredo, Estrela (2017). Field Guide to Succulents of Southern Africa. Penguin Random House South Africa. p. 320. ISBN 9781775843672.

[4] Manning, John C.. (2013). Field guide to wild flowers of South Africa. Cape Town: Random House Struik. p. 236. ISBN 9781920544874.

[5] Kellerman, T. S.; Coetzer, J. A. W.; Naudé, T. W.; Botha, C. J. (2005). Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in southern Africa (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 116–146. ISBN 978-0195761344.

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