Crèche for crassulas

The stem of Tylecodon paniculatus seen without a crown of succulent leaves or stumpy branch-tips (out of season) renders the plant’s tree status plausible. The case for the botterboom (butter tree) being a tree starts with its well-known Afrikaans name. Then there are the occasionally achieved heights of 3 m and inclusion in the SA Tree List (Number 137.1). Other than that, it’s a shrub.

Whether one thinks of the botterboom as a tree or not, it is one of the admired plants of the southern and western, winter rainfall region. Thin, peeling pieces of skin are shed from the yellow-green surface, compared by some to the colour of mustard. Dark blotches mark spots where small branches dropped off long ago, replaced by higher ones.

The stem in picture needs many more years before reaching the 60 cm diameter that some of its compatriots do. Already touching rock on the awkward slope where it makes its living, its chances are slim; likely to settle for less. That doesn’t mean that expansion discontinues while its alive. Only that this spot where a seed germinated long ago was inopportune for setting records.

There are other objectives in life than getting fat though, even for a botterboom. This one is being useful in having started a crèche for crassulas, mainly occupied currently by Crassula orbicularis.

This little scene of the gathered short and tall was photographed in karoid veld west of Barrydale (Smith, et al, 2017; Coates Palgrave, 2002).