''Tylecodon paniculatus'', also known as butter bush, butter tree, butterboom or rooisuikerblom (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

), is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

succulent plant In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

in the genus ''

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, ...

'' belonging to the family

Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Crass ...

Etymology

The genus name is a syllabic

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of the former name ''

Cotyledon A cotyledon (; ; ; , gen. (), ) is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant, and is defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to appear from a germinating seed." The numb ...

'', created by Helmut Toelken who split a few species off into a genus of their own. The species Latin epithet refers to the shape of

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

— branched terminal

panicles A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are o ...

. The common names refer to soft, fleshy and brittle stems. For centuries children have used the soft, slippery stems as sleds.

Description

''Tylecodon paniculatus'' is a thickset, robust succulent dwarf tree up to 2.5–3 m tall, with very fat stems with usually well branched rounded crown. The single main trunk and branches are covered with mustard-yellow to olive-green bark peeling in papery semi-translucent sheets. Branches are short, with prominent leaf scars. Leaves are clustered and spirally arranged around the apex of the growing tips simple during the wintertime; they are paddle-shaped, 5–12 cm long and 2–10 cm wide, thickly succulent, bright yellowish-green; apex is broadly tapering to rounded, base is tapering without petiole. The plant is

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. Inflorescences are spectacular slender, ascending thyrses to 40 cm, with bright crimson-red stalks. Flowers have five joined

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

and five joined

petals Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usually ...

, forming an orange-yellow to red urn-shaped tube 1.5–2.5 cm long with spreading lobes. Ten

stamens The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

are pendulous at first, then upright as the petal-tube dries. Hybridises with Tylecodon wallichii.

Habitat

Rocky slopes in

Succulent Karoo The Succulent Karoo is a ecoregion defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature to include regions of desert in South Africa and Namibia, and a biodiversity hotspot. The geographic area chosen by the WWF for what they call 'Succulent Karoo' does no ...

Distribution

The species grows in the arid, winter rain-fall regions from

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

to the southwestern

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Toxicity

The plant contains

bufadienolide Bufadienolide is a chemical compound with steroid structure. Its derivatives are collectively known as bufadienolides, including many in the form of bufadienolide glycosides (bufadienolides that contain structural groups derived from sugars). These ...

-type

cardiac glycoside Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions by inhibiting the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Their beneficial medical uses are as treatments for co ...

cotyledoside which causes cotyledonosis or nenta poisoning ("krimpsiekte") in sheep and goats.

Subspecies

* ''Tylecodon paniculatus subsp. paniculatus '' — southwestern Namibia through to Cape Province. * ''Tylecodon paniculatus subsp. glaucus'' van Jaarsv. — Namibia.

Gallery

File:Tylecodon paniculatus Richtersveld.jpg, Young plant in the early spring in

Richtersveld The Richtersveld is a desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to crag ...

. File:Tylecodon paniculatus-PICT2534.jpg, Flowering plant in

ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park The ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park is a peace park straddling the border between South Africa and Namibia. It was formed in 2003 by combining the Namibian ''ǀAi-ǀAis Hot Springs Game Park'' and the South African ''Richtersveld Nat ...

. File:Tylecodon paniculatus01.jpg, Inflorescences are burn in late spring to mid-summer just as the plant sheds its leaves. Between

De Doorns De Doorns is situated in the Breede Valley Local Municipality, Cape Winelands District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Location It lies in the Hex River Valley on the N1 National Route, 32 km north-east of Worce ...

and

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. File:Tylecodon paniculatus Flower.jpg, Flowers in

Anysberg Nature Reserve The Anysberg Nature Reserve of 62,500 ha, is situated in the western Little Karoo region of the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve in the Western Cape province, South Africa. The central mountain is named after Anise, ''Pimpinella anisum'', whic ...

References

External links

*
Bihrmann

World of Succulents
Plants described in 1978 Flora of South Africa Flora of Namibia paniculatus Taxa named by Hellmut R. Toelken {{Crassulaceae-stub