Tylecodon wallichii subsp. wallichii in flower

Tylecodon wallichii grows along the Richtersveld and Namaqualand coast and eastwards across the karoid scrub into the Little Karoo. This photo of subsp. wallichii was taken in the Koo Valley north of Montagu in December. The leaves below are shrivelled on the succulent stems at this stage. Only the pointed leaf-bases or phyllopodia remain on the stems for long.

Several cotyledons and tylecodons share the Afrikaans common names of nenta and krimpsiektebos in wide ranging South African farming communities. This is due to the similar stock illnesses (and losses) caused by these plants when animals graze on them in times of drought. Even dogs eating carcasses of animals lost this way contract the symptoms.

Still, the Khoi people found ways of using T. wallichii as medicine in spite of its poison (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Manning, 2009; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008).