Tylecodon wallichii subsp. wallichii new leaves

The annual emergence of leaf tufts at each stem tip brings splashes of soft green colour to the elaborate and drab succulent body of Tylecodon wallichii subsp. wallichii. The photo was taken in March in the veld of the African Game Lodge near Montagu.

The terete (cylindrical) leaves are hairless and may turn brownish as they age. They are often grooved on their upper surfaces. Unless a new branch grows somewhere on a stem, only the existing leaf tips will develop new leaves, the knobbly dark stems remaining bare and unlikely to allow moisture to escape through the old, hard skin or bark.

The much-branched plant may grow stems as tall as 80 cm (Frandsen, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; iSpot).