Cotyledon tomentosa subsp. tomentosa

Cotyledon tomentosa subsp. tomentosa, commonly known as the bear's paw, is a low-growing and compact, succulent shrublet of around 30 cm in height.

The distinctive feature is the teeth at the tips of the short, somewhat flat, succulent and hairy leaves. These teeth are arranged in a neat row and vary in number between three and ten. There are bright green or yellow-green leaf forms with yellowish hairs, as well as greyer ones with whitish hairs covering the leaves.

The flowers are pale yellow or orange, more colour on the inside of the five petal lobes. The flowers point outwards or down on quite short pedicels. Some of the other Cotyledon species have longer pedicels and more pendulous flowers. The bear's paw has the typical Cotyledon urn-shaped flower, the petals separate near the tips allowing the pointed lobes to curl back around the mouth. There are ten stamens.

The plant grows in the Western Cape in a strip of Little Karoo scrub-veld from Ladismith to around Steytlerville in the Eastern Cape. 

The habitat is arid thicket krantz veld on shale and sandstone. The habitat population of the subspecies is considered vulnerable early in the twenty first century due to veld degradation, particularly from trampling by livestock. The plants are poisonous to humans, livestock and dogs (Smith, et al, Manning, 2009; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://crassulaceae.net; http://redlist.sanbi.org).