Tylecodon wallichii is a species of succulent plant in the genus Tylecodon belonging to the family Crassulaceae. 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.
It hybridises with Tylecodon paniculatus.
Distribution Gravelly or sandy slopes of South Namibia and RCA from Namaqualand into the Great and Little Karoo.
Toxicity The plant contains bufadienolide-type cardiac glycoside cotyledoside which causes nenta poisoning ("krimpsiekte") in livestock.
Subspecies Tylecodon wallichii subsp. wallichii — South Namibia, RCA (Northern Cape) Tylecodon wallichii subsp. ecklonianus (Harv.) Toelken — South Namibia, RCA (Northern and Western Cape)
References
External links
World of Succulents Bihrmann