Cotyledon (genus)

Cotyledon
Cotyledon orbiculata
Systematics
Eudicotyledons Nuclear eudicotyledons Order : Saxifragales (Saxifragales) Family : Thick-leaf family (Crassulaceae) Subfamily : Kalanchoideae Genre : Cotyledon
Scientific name
Cotyledon
L.

Cotyledon is a genus of the thick-leaf family(Crassulaceae).

description

There are both leaf and stem succulents in the genus , which are leafless for most of the year. There are both tiny species and large shrub species. The leaves are thick, often furry and persistent and white or silvery, brown or greenish yellow. The seeds sit in dry, paper-like pods.

The hermaphrodite, radially symmetrical flowers are five-fold. Insects pollinate them ( entomophilia ). The five petals are fused. There are two by five stamens , which are free among each other, but fused with the petals. The five carpels can be free to slightly fused (apocarp to syncarp). There are usually follicles formed. The fruits contain numerous oily seeds.

distribution

Cotyledon pendens

The range of the species are the arid regions of Africa , from South Africa to Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula . The Capensis is the center of biodiversity.

species

There are about 10 species in the genus. In the past there were many other species of Crassulaceae in this genus. These are now classified in separate genera (e.g. Echeveria , Rosularia ). The type species is Cotyledon orbiculata L.

• Cotyledon adscendens R.A. Dyer
• Cotyledon barbeyi Schweinf. ex Baker ; Home: Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia
• Cotyledon campanulata Marloth
• Cotyledon cuneata Thunb.
• Cotyledon egglii van Jaarsv.
• Cotyledon eliseae van Jaarsv.
• Cotyledon gloeophylla van Jaarsv.
• Cotyledon orbiculata L .; with five varieties:
  • Cotyledon orbiculata var. Dactylopsis Toelken
  • Cotyledon orbiculata var. Flanaganii (Schönland & Baker) Toelken ; Home: chap
  • Cotyledon orbiculata var. Oblonga (Haw.) DC. , Homeland: chap
  • Cotyledon orbiculata var. Orbiculata ; Home: South Africa, Namibia, Angola, naturalized in places in France and Spain. This variety also bears the German name pig's ear .
  • Cotyledon orbiculata var. Spuria (L.) Toelken
• Cotyledon papillaris L.f. ; Home: chap
• Cotyledon pendens van Jaarsv. ; Home: chap
• Cotyledon petiolaris van Jaarsv.
• Cotyledon tomentosa Harv.
  • Cotyledon tomentosa subsp. ladismithensis (Poelln.) Toelken
  • Cotyledon tomentosa subsp. tomentosa
• Cotyledon velutina Hook.f.
• Cotyledon woodii Schönland & Baker f.

literature

• W. Kawollek: Succulents , Ulmer, 1996, ISBN 3-8001-6864-2
• T. Hewitt: Everything about cacti and other succulents , Dorling Kingley, 1993, ISBN 3-8310-0001-8
• Urs Eggli (ed.): Succulent lexicon. Crassulaceae (thick leaf family) . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-8001-3998-7 , pp. 25-29 .
• Walter Erhardt among others: The big pikeperch. Encyclopedia of Plant Names . Volume 2. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In: Bradleya . Cotyledon egglii , a new species from the Barberton region, Mpumalanga, South Africa. Volume 35: 2017 pp. 185–190
2. ↑ In: Bradleya . Cotyledon gloeophylla , a new species from the Kouga River, Eastern Cape. Volume 33: 2015 pp. 180-184
3. ↑ In: Bradleya . Cotyledon petiolaris , a new cliff-dwelling species from the Eastern Cape South Africa. Edition 33: 2015 pp. 21–16

Web links

Commons : Cotyledon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry with the Flora of New Zealand (English)