Tylecodon wallichii
| Tylecodon wallichii | |
|---|---|
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| Tylecodon wallichii in Montagu. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Saxifragales |
| Family: | Crassulaceae |
| Genus: | Tylecodon |
| Species: | T. wallichii |
| Binomial name | |
| Tylecodon wallichii | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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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 shrublets 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]
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.