Tylecodon reticulatus - 20 Seed Pack - South African Indigenous Natural Bonsai - NEW

Tylecodon is a genus of succulent plants in the Crassulaceae family. Until the late 1970s all these plants were included in the genus Cotyledon, but in 1978 Dr Helmut Tölken of the South Australian Herbarium split them off into a genus of their own. The new name: "Tylecodon" was chosen as an anagram of the earlier name Cotyledon. Tylecodons generally lose their leaves during summer. From mid-autumn to early winter the new leaves are borne in spiral arrangements at the branch tips. The Tylecodon genus is very varied, ranging from dwarf succulents such as Tylecodon reticulatus to Tylecodon paniculatus, which may exceed two metres in height. They all well suited to being raised in rockeries and in pots. When grown in small pots their height can be controlled and they make interesting looking natural bonsai.

Tylecodon reticulatus, previously known as Cotyledon dichotoma, Cotyledon parvula, Cotyledon reticulata and Tylecodon reticulata, and commonly known as Oukoe, Oukoeicotyledon and Poppiebos, is a South African indigenous succulent plant found in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces.

This caudiciform makes a beautiful natural bonsai when kept in a flat bonsai pot. Plants will grow from 20 to 30cm in height. The short thick stem divides into smaller stems. The subterete leaves appear at the tips of these branches which are covered with the branches of old inflorescence. The very short young branches are about 10mm thick and the leaf scars disappear annually with the peeling bark.