Cotyledon orbiculata flowers

Cotyledon orbiculata has at least five different varieties associated with regional habitats and the trials and tribulations of living conditions that stimulate species to evolve. All these plants are endowed with pretty leaves and flowers, causing them to appear in gardens together, displaying their contrasts, while risking hybridised offspring that blur the current distinctions and definitive specific concept.

The calyces in picture at the tops of the pendulous corollas have short, pointed lobes. The flower tube consists of petals that cohere about seamlessly, only separating near the bottom where they recurve strongly. Some protruding anthers are just visible below the flowers. Sturdy peduncles hold the flower clusters up, while thin individual pedicels allow the flowers to droop. The robust stalk bearing the whole inflorescence stands tall above the leaves.

These plants grow easily and are popular with succulent gardeners who love them more than livestock farmers do. This is so because stock losses are incurred in some regions of the country when animals eat the plakkie, which happens especially during drought conditions (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010).