Tylecodon
Tylecodon is a genus of plants in the family Crassulaceae. Until the late 1970s all these plants were included in the genus Cotyledon, but in 1978 Dr Helmut Toelken of the South Australian Herbarium split them off into a genus of their own. The new name: "Tylecodon" was apparently chosen as a syllabic anagram of the earlier name Cotyledon.
The bases for splitting Cotyledon to create the new genus included certain features of the flowers, but more conspicuously, the leaves of Tylecodon are deciduous in summer and they are borne in a spiral arrangement, rather than the opposite arrangement of Cotyledon leaves. The species are vary varied, ranging from dwarf succulents such as Tylecodon reticulatus to Tylecodon paniculatus, which may exceed two metres in height.
Like practically all of the Cotyledon species, the Tylecodons are poisonous, some of them being decidedly hazardous to stock,.[1] Nonetheless, some very attractive or intriguing species are popular among succulent collectors, and novices have been advised to take precautions such as wearing gloves when handling the plants.
The genus Tylecodon contains the following species, but this list certainly is incomplete. For one thing, it does not contain any mention of subspecies, hybrids and the like. Also, inevitably, new species are described occasionally.
- Tylecodon albiflorus Bruyns[2]
- Tylecodon aridimontanus, G.Will.
- Tylecodon atropurpureus Bruyns[2]
- Tylecodon aurusbergensis, G.Will. & Van Jaarsv.
- Tylecodon bayeri E.J. Van Jaarsveld[2]
- Tylecodon buchholzianus (Schuldt & Stephens) Tölken FP 45: 1774.[2]
- Tylecodon cacaliodes (L. f.) Tölken FP 7: 249.[2]
- Tylecodon cacaliodes (L. f.) Tölken x T. paniculatus (L. f.) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon decipiens Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon ellaphieae E.J. Van Jaarsveld FP 50: 1983.[2]
- Tylecodon faucium (V. Pölln.) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon fragilis (R.A. Dyer) Tölken FP 41: 1631.[2]
- Tylecodon grandiflorus (Burm. f.) Tölken FP 27: 1046.[2]
- Tylecodon hallii (Tölken) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon hirtifolius (W. f. Barker) Tölken FP 18: 690.[2]
- Tylecodon kritzingeri E.J. Van Jaarsveld FP 51: 2006.[2]
- Tylecodon leucothrix (C.A. Sm.) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon occultans (Tölken) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon paniculatus (L. f.) Tölken FP 29: 1142.[2]
- Tylecodon pearsonii (Schonl.) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon pusillus Bruyns [2]
- Tylecodon pygmaeus (W. f. Barker) Tölken FP 10: 396.[2]
- Tylecodon racemosus (Harv.) Tölken FP 22: 848.[2]
- Tylecodon reticulatus (L. f.) Tölken [2]
- Tylecodon rubrovenosus (Dinter) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon schaeferianus (Dinter) Tölken FP 10: 394[2]
- Tylecodon similis (Tölken) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon singularis (R.A. Dyer) Tölken FP 41: 1606.[2]
- Tylecodon stenocaulis Bruyns[2]
- Tylecodon striatus (P.C. Hutch.) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon suffultus Bruyns ex Tölken var. suffultus.[2]
- Tylecodon sulphurous (Tölken) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon tenuis (Tölken) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon tomosus Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon tuberosus Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon ventricosus (Burm. f.) Tölken[2]
- Tylecodon viridiflorus (Tölken) Tölken FP 48: 1919.[2]
- Tylecodon wallichii (Harv.) Tölken subsp. wallichii[2]
- ^ Watt, John Mitchell, Breyer-Brandwijk, Maria Gerdina: The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa 2nd ed Pub. E & S Livingstone 1962
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj Plants of southern Africa: Names and distribution (Memoirs van die Botaniese Opname van Suid-Afrika). Pretoria: National Botanical Institute. 1993. ISBN 1-874907-03-X.