Tylecodon wallichii subsp. wallichii

Tylecodon wallichii subsp. wallichii is a summer deciduous, succulent shrublet reaching heights around 1 m. A mature plant will have branched several of these dark grey stems, creating a dome-shape for the plant.

The thick fleshy trunk of up to 10 cm in diameter is covered in a regular pattern of eye-shaped warty protuberances or phyllopodia. These are the knobbly bases of discarded leaves from earlier growth seasons.

T. wallichii subsp. wallichii distribution ranges from the Northern Cape through the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape. Subsp. ecklonianus occurs only in the Northern Cape. This plant was seen in the Ceres Karoo near the Katbakkies Pass in midwinter, making it subsp. wallichii. This is the time when the plant has leaves and no flowers. Last summers flower stalks still persist among the leaves.

The habitat is gravelly or sandy slopes, the plants growing sporadically in loamy or clayey soils among varied other vegetation. The subspecies is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).