Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga

Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga probably occurs much wider than the three provinces mentioned in the SANBI red list (Eastern Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga). It clearly grows in KwaZulu-Natal, probably also Gauteng, North West and the Western Cape, particularly along parts of the southern coast. It may also flower throughout the year.

This thriving Drakensberg plant has the familiar leaf and flower colours. The variety is, however, known for a wide range of leaf shapes and colours. The long corolla tubes bulging slightly in the middle are distinctive. The inflorescence stalk probably has only a single pair of bracts. The plant is encountered in much of the eastern summer rainfall area, growing in the open among many kinds of vegetation (Smith, et al, 2017; Jacobsen, 2025: Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga from the south coast of the Western Cape, South Africa, https://bioone.org; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).