Tylecodon paniculatus - 10 Seed Pack - Indigenous South African Caudiciform Succulent - NEW

Tylecodon is a genus of succulent plants in the Crassulaceae family. Until the late 1970s all these plants were included in the genus Cotyledon, but in 1978 Dr Helmut Tölken of the South Australian Herbarium split them off into a genus of their own. The new name: "Tylecodon" was chosen as an anagram of the earlier name Cotyledon. Tylecodons generally lose their leaves during summer. From mid-autumn to early winter the new leaves are borne in spiral arrangements at the branch tips. The Tylecodon genus is very varied, ranging from dwarf succulents such as Tylecodon reticulatus to Tylecodon paniculatus, which may exceed two metres in height. They all well suited to being raised in rockeries and in pots. When grown in small pots their height can be controlled and they make interesting looking natural bonsai.

Tylecodon paniculatus is a summer deciduous, stocky, caudiciform, tree-like succulent that occurs over a wide area. The plant appears to have wide tolerance of growing habitats, growing in weathered rock in the north to coastal sands in the south.

The plants can reach heights of 2 m making them the largest of the tylecodons. The plants conserve energy by photosynthesizing through their "greenish stems" during the hot dry summer months. The yellowish green, papery bark is a very attractive feature of this plant. During the winter, plants are covered with long, obovate, succulent leaves clustered around the apex of the growing tip. At the beginning of summer it bears spectacular reddish orange, tubular flowers, just as the leaves turn yellow and drop off. It has a surprisingly shallow root system for its size making it an ideal succulent to be raised in a shallow bonsai pot.