Tylecodon wallichii subsp. ecklonianus

Tylecodon wallichii subsp. ecklonianus is a much-branched perennial growing erect stems to about 80 cm in height.

A mass of leaves grow erectly upon the broad succulent stem. The blue-green or yellow-green, thread-like leaves curve individualistically but lack snakeheads, not quite up to Medusa standards.

It is easy to spot the channelled or grooved upper surfaces on some of the leaves. Maybe the grooves are not always present as there are few unambiguously grooved surfaces showing in the photo, although some flat ones are also present among the many convex ones.

The linear leaf-shapes are smooth, glabrous, mostly ending abruptly in truncated fashion.

The subspecies is distributed in Namaqualand in the Northern Cape as far south as Kamieskroon, as well as in southern Namibia. This lush plant was encountered at Naries west of Springbok during August in a year of lavish Namaqualand blooming, although it wasnt in bloom yet as the season starts later. The flowers are green, red-dotted near their tips and are about 2 cm long.

The habitat is arid scrub and lower mountain slopes. The subspecies is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Frandsen, 2017; iNaturalist; htpp://redlist.sanbi.org).