The Cotyledon Page

Cotyledon orbiculata  Linnaeus 1753 (Afrikaans: 'Plakkie'= pig's ear)
Cotyledon orbiculata includes numerous plants formerly regarded as separate species, currently grouped into five variable subspecies. This common roadside weed in the Cape Province has large flat bluish-grey fleshy leaves with reddened margins. The leaves nicely offset umbels of pink, orange or yellow tubular cup-shaped flowers held on long stems. The flowers are bird pollinated.
 
Cotyledon orbiculata is native to Southern Africa but cultivated in warm climates world-wide, with numerous selected, named forms in cultivation. This plant is a traditional treatment for warts and abscesses.

Cotyledon orbiculata var orbiculata  Linnaeus 1753
Syn. Cotyledon decussata  Sims 1824
 
This variety of Cotyledon orbiculata includes numerous shrubby plants formerly regarded as separate species. The leaves are variable in form but generally of an oval shape, usually smooth but sometimes with a degree of pubescence. Leaf margins and tips are often reddened. The umbels of tubular flowers are in shades of yellow to red and produced in the Spring and Summer.
 
Native to Angola, Namibia and South Africa.

Cotyledon papillaris  Linnaeus f. 1782
This dwarf Cotyledon has small ovate green to pinkish-grey leaves. The inflorescence is a short, sticky stem bearing a small cluster of orange bells with recurved petal tips.
 

 
Native to Namibia and the Cape Province of South Africa.

Cotyledon tomentosa ssp. ladysmithensis  Tölken 1977
A low-growing shrub from the Western Cape of South Africa and quite common in collections of succulent plants. Lower branches have peeling bark. The oblong leaves have flattened upper surfaces and rounded undersides. The ends of the leaves are undulate, sometimes reddened and all surfaces are pubescent. Clusters of pink to orange tubular flowers are produced during the Summer.