Tylecodon paniculatus
| Tylecodon paniculatus | |
|---|---|
| File:Tylecodon paniculatus Rooiberg Nature Reserve.jpg | |
| Tylecodon paniculatus in Rooiberg Nature Reserve, South Africa. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Saxifragales |
| Family: | Crassulaceae |
| Genus: | Tylecodon |
| Species: | T. paniculatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Tylecodon paniculatus | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Tylecodon paniculatus, also known as butter bush, butter tree, butterboom or rooisuikerblom (Afrikaans), is a species of succulent plant in the genus Tylecodon belonging to the family Crassulaceae.[1]
Etymology
[edit | edit source]The genus name is a syllabic anagram of the former name Cotyledon, created by Helmut Toelken who split a few species off into a genus of their own.[2]
The species Latin epithet refers to the shape of inflorescence — branched terminal panicles.
The common names refer to soft, fleshy and brittle stems. For centuries children have used the soft, slippery stems as sleds.[3]
Description
[edit | edit source]Tylecodon paniculatus is a thickset, robust succulent dwarf tree up to 2.5–3 m tall, with very fat stems with usually well branched rounded crown. The single main trunk and branches are covered with mustard-yellow to olive-green bark peeling in papery semi-translucent sheets. Branches are short, with prominent leaf scars. Leaves are clustered and spirally arranged around the apex of the growing tips simple during the wintertime; they are paddle-shaped, 5–12 cm long and 2–10 cm wide, thickly succulent, bright yellowish-green; apex is broadly tapering to rounded, base is tapering without petiole. The plant is deciduous. Inflorescences are spectacular slender, ascending thyrses to 40 cm, with bright crimson-red stalks. Flowers have five joined sepals and five joined petals, forming an orange-yellow to red urn-shaped tube 1.5–2.5 cm long with spreading lobes. Ten stamens are pendulous at first, then upright as the petal-tube dries.[4][5]
It hybridises with Tylecodon wallichii.[6]
Habitat
[edit | edit source]Rocky slopes in Succulent Karoo.
Distribution
[edit | edit source]The species grows in the arid, winter rain-fall regions from Namibia to the southwestern South Africa.
Toxicity
[edit | edit source]The plant contains bufadienolide-type cardiac glycoside cotyledoside which causes cotyledonosis or nenta poisoning ("krimpsiekte") in sheep and goats.[7]
Subspecies
[edit | edit source]- Tylecodon paniculatus subsp. paniculatus — southwestern Namibia through to Cape Province.
- Tylecodon paniculatus subsp. glaucus van Jaarsv. — Namibia.[1]
Gallery
[edit | edit source]-
Young plant in the early spring in Richtersveld.
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Flowering plant in ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.
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Inflorescences are borne in late spring to mid-summer just as the plant sheds its leaves.
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Flowers in Anysberg Nature Reserve.
References
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
- Bihrmann
- World of Succulents
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