Cotyledon velutina

Cotyledon velutina is a hardy leaf succulent that reaches heights around 1,5 m often, 3 m rarely, the tallest of the cotyledons.

The simple leaves grow erectly and clustered at the stem-tips as they drop off fairly soon, leaving the lower down, branched older stems bare and scarred from leaf-markings. The leaf bases envelop the stems, the leaves sessile meaning stalkless. The slab-like, flat or wavy and thickly succulent blades are ovate in outline, their tips pointed. The surfaces are more often hairy on both sides than smooth, blue green to grey brown in colour with margins entire, usually purple red.

The flowers grow pendulous in umbel-shaped clusters on sturdy peduncles that are erect and purplish. The individual flowers mostly dangle from curved pedicels. The peduncles are from 30 cm to 60 cm long. A short, green calyx ending in pointed sepal lobes clutches the back of each corolla.

The flower has a bell-shaped corolla, a cylindrical tube longer than its five outcurving, pointed lobes. The corolla tube may be up to 17 mm long. Flower colours range from coppery with yellow margins to yellow green with red margins.

The ten stamens ending in pale cream anthers are exserted from the flower mouth. The nectar-bearing flowers attract many insects and birds. Flowering happens from late spring through summer.

The species distribution is in the western and central parts of the Eastern Cape. The photo was taken in the Baviaanskloof.

The habitat is dry scrub and thicket in partly shaded, rocky places where the soils are shallow. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Smith et al, 2017; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).