Cotyledon (genus) on:
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''Cotyledon'' is one of some 35
Members of the genus are shrublets, generally succulent, with fleshily woody, brittle stems and persistent succulent leaves.
The leaves are opposite. Leaf pairs generally are oriented at 90 degrees to their preceding and following pairs, as is common in the family Crassulaceae, but the leaf habit differs from say ''
File:Cotyledon adscendens - KBG 5.jpg, '' Cotyledon adscendens'', a decumbent, sparsely branched shrub with leaves that are concave on their upper surface.
File:Cotyledon barbeyi - from Bushveld South Africa.jpg, '' Cotyledon barbeyi'' is a small shrub with cuneate leaf-bases.
File:Cotyledon barbeyi flowers Hell's Gate.jpg, The flowers of '' Cotyledon barbeyi'' are inflated between the calyx lobes.
File:Cotyledon campanulata 02.jpg, '' Cotyledon campanulata'' has elongated, viscid, terete leaves.
File:Cotyledon eliseae 01.jpg, The tiny '' Cotyledon eliseae'' has sticky leaves, a long compound inflorescence and narrow flowers.
File:Cotyledon orbiculata - cultivars varieties.jpg, '' Cotyledon orbiculata'' is an extremely variable species, with a tall inflorescence (20–40 cm) and 10-15mm long lobes on its non-inflated corolla.
File:Cotyledon papillaris - laingsburg.jpg, '' Cotyledon papillaris'' is a spreading, procumbent species. Its short flowers have long, yellowish lobes.
File:Cotyledon papillaris - South Africa.jpg, '' Cotyledon papillaris'' (grey form)
File:Cotyledon Pendens 4.JPG, '' Cotyledon pendens'' has slender, dangling stems and almost ovate leaves.
File:Cotyledon tomentosa in cultivation - Cape Town 9.jpg, '' Cotyledon tomentosa'' ("Bears Paw") has hairy ("tomentose") leaves.
File:Velvet Cotyledon (Cotyledon velutina) (32610770836).jpg, '' Cotyledon velutina'' has auriculate leaves below its inflorescence.
File:Cotyledon woodii in cultivation - Stellenbosch.jpg, '' Cotyledon woodii'' is an erect shrub (up to 1,2m) with solitary red flowers and glabrous leaves.
File:Cotyledon woodii - red flowered South African plant.jpg, '' Cotyledon woodii'' (green-leaved form).
File:Cotyledon xanthantha - Babylonst.jpg, '' Cotyledon xanthantha''
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
of succulent plants in the family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Crassulaceae
The Crassulaceae (, from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the crassulas, the stonecrops or the orpine family, are a diverse Family (biology), family of dicotyledon angiosperms primarily characterized by succulent leaves and a form of phot ...
. Mostly from Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...
, they also occur throughout the drier parts of Africa as far north as the Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
. Ten of its species are mostly confined to South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, where unlike ''Tylecodon
''Tylecodon'' is a genus of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae, native to southern Africa.
Until the late 1970s all these plants were included in the genus ''Cotyledon'', but in 1978 Helmut Toelken of the Botanical Research Institute, ...
'', they occur commonly in both the winter and summer rainfall regions. They may be found on coastal flats and rocky hillsides, or as cremnophytes on cliff faces. Their decussate
Decussation is used in biological contexts to describe a crossing (due to the shape of the Roman numeral for ten, an uppercase 'X' (), ). In Latin anatomical terms, the form is used, e.g. .
Similarly, the anatomical term chiasma is named aft ...
, evergreen leaves are highly variable in shape, even within some species, but the flowers, apart from colour, are very similar.
Description
Members of the genus are shrublets, generally succulent, with fleshily woody, brittle stems and persistent succulent leaves.
The leaves are opposite. Leaf pairs generally are oriented at 90 degrees to their preceding and following pairs, as is common in the family Crassulaceae, but the leaf habit differs from say ''Tylecodon
''Tylecodon'' is a genus of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae, native to southern Africa.
Until the late 1970s all these plants were included in the genus ''Cotyledon'', but in 1978 Helmut Toelken of the Botanical Research Institute, ...
'' (in which the leaves are borne in spirals and are deciduous).
The flowers are pendulous and tubular, borne at the tips of stout, rather long peduncles, mainly in short cymes. Calyx 5-partited, corolla 5-lobed. Petals
Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''coroll ...
united in a tube or urn
An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape ...
that generally is longer than broad, their triangular tips more or less pointed and recurved, 10 stamens arising from corolla near base and projecting or nearly projecting from the corolla. Gynoecium
Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...
comprises 5 carpel
Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more ...
s, nearly or quite free, each carpel tapering into a slender style
Style, or styles may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal
* ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film
* ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film
* '' ...
with an obliquely capitate
The capitate bone is a bone in the human wrist found in the center of the carpal bone region, located at the distal end of the radius and ulna bones. It articulates with the third metacarpal bone (the middle finger) and forms the third carpomet ...
stigma. Each carpel contains many small (typically less than 1 milligramme when ripe) globular, brown seeds.
Taxonomy
Together with ''Tylecodon
''Tylecodon'' is a genus of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae, native to southern Africa.
Until the late 1970s all these plants were included in the genus ''Cotyledon'', but in 1978 Helmut Toelken of the Botanical Research Institute, ...
'', ''Kalanchoe
''Kalanchoe'' ( ), (also called "kalanchöe" or "kalanchoë"), is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. A ''Kalanchoe'' species was one ...
'' and ''Adromischus
''Adromischus'' is a genus of flowering plants. They are easily-propagated, leaf succulents from the family Crassulaceae, which are endemism, endemic to southern Africa. The name comes from the ancient Greek ''adros'' (=thick) and ''mischos'' (= ...
'', it forms a sister clade to the family's basal ''Crassula
''Crassula'' is a genus of succulent plants containing about 200 accepted species, including the popular jade plant (''Crassula ovata''). They are members of the stonecrop family (Crassulaceae) and are native to many parts of the globe, but culti ...
'' clade. Until the 1960s, some 150 species were included in the genus ''Cotyledon'', but subsequently it was split into at least ''Adromischus
''Adromischus'' is a genus of flowering plants. They are easily-propagated, leaf succulents from the family Crassulaceae, which are endemism, endemic to southern Africa. The name comes from the ancient Greek ''adros'' (=thick) and ''mischos'' (= ...
'', ''Dudleya
''Dudleya'', commonly known as liveforevers, is a genus of rosette-forming succulent plants in the stonecrop family, Crassulaceae, consisting of about 68 taxa in southwestern North America and Guadalupe Island. The species come in many forms, so ...
'', '' Rosularia'', and ''Tylecodon
''Tylecodon'' is a genus of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae, native to southern Africa.
Until the late 1970s all these plants were included in the genus ''Cotyledon'', but in 1978 Helmut Toelken of the Botanical Research Institute, ...
'', leaving probably less than two dozen species in ''Cotyledon''. Of these, about four are characteristically fynbos
Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...
plants.
Cultivation and uses
Most plants in the genus, and those that used to be included in the genus ''Cotyledon'', are poisonous, even dangerously so. Some have been implicated in stock losses among goats, pigs and poultry. However, many species have long been used in traditional medicine. They have been applied for many purposes, ranging from magic charms to removal of corns. ''Cotyledon'' species are grown as garden and indoor subjects, practically independent of irrigation in all but full desert conditions, though they cannot survive poor light or bad drainage. Pests that affect them include sucking bugs, members of the suborderAuchenorrhyncha
The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the o ...
such as the mealy bug ('' Pseudococcus''), and similar insects. The inflorescences of the larger species are sometimes used as components of dried arrangements in floral design
Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant material and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floral design is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Floral desi ...
.
Species list
Species include (among others): * '' Cotyledon adscendens'' * '' Cotyledon barbeyi'' * '' Cotyledon campanulata'' * '' Cotyledon cuneata'' * '' Cotyledon chrysantha'' * '' Cotyledon elisae'' * '' Cotyledon galpinii'' * '' Cotyledon orbiculata'' – pig's ear, round-leafed navelwort * '' Cotyledon papilaris'' * '' Cotyledon tomentosa'' - bear's paw * '' Cotyledon tomentosa'' subsp. ''ladismithiensis'' * '' Cotyledon undulata'' - silver crown, silver ruffles * '' Cotyledon velutina'' * '' Cotyledon woodii''Gallery
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1136856 Flora of Africa Garden plants of Africa Crassulaceae genera Taxa named by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Crassulaceae Succulent plants