Family Crassulaceae
Although it looks like a tree, it is classified as a succulent.
Tylecodon paniculatus
is summer deciduous. 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 and has
given rise to the common name. During the winter, plants are covered with long,
obovate, succulent leaves clustered around the apex of the growing tip.
The long reddish orange, tubular flowers are borne in
upright racemes at the onset of summer in November each year, just as the
leaves turn yellow and drop off. In nature the plants tend to grow in groups,
making a spectacular show when they flower. The seeds, which are very fine, are
released from seed capsules during the autumn (March/April) just in time for
the winter rains. In summer rainfall areas, flowering times and subsequent seed
maturation may be delayed by a few months. The shrub is reported to have a
surprisingly weak and shallow root system for its size.
The attractive, bright flowers are bird pollinated. The
flowers contain nectar protected by a tuft of hairs halfway up the inside of
the corolla tube. These hairs are easily pushed aside by the bird's beak, and
lesser double-collared sunbirds have been observed visiting the flowers.
Hybrids of T. paniculata and related species have been reported.
Tylecodon paniculatus
is a stocky, caudiciform, arborescent succulent that occurs over a wide area.
The plant is found from Eastern Cape near Steytlerville in the Little Karoo,
along the southern and western Cape coastline and as far north as the Auas
Mountains in central Namibia. Tylecodon paniculatus is common in the
Worcester/Robertson Karoo, the Bushmanland area and northern Namaqualand.
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 botterboom is poisonous to stock, causing
'krimpsiekte'. In the past, the smooth, slippery stems were sometimes used to
slide or ski at great speed down smooth rock faces or dam walls, adrenaline
rushes before the days of bungy jumping!
Info: http://www.plantzafrica.com
