# Tylecodon paniculatus > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tylecodon_paniculatus > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tylecodon_paniculatus.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylecodon_paniculatus > Source revision: 1276607761 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of succulent}} {{Speciesbox |image = Tylecodon paniculatus Rooiberg Nature Reserve.jpg |image_caption = ''Tylecodon paniculatus'' in Rooiberg Nature Reserve, South Africa. |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = |genus = Tylecodon |species = paniculatus |authority = ([L.f.](/source/Carl_Linnaeus_the_Younger)) [Toelken](/source/Hellmut_R._Toelken) (1978) |synonyms = *''Cotyledon paniculata'' L.f. }} '''''Tylecodon paniculatus''''', also known as '''butter bush''', '''butter tree''', '''butterboom''' or '''rooisuikerblom''' ([Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans)), is a [species](/source/species) of [succulent plant](/source/succulent_plant) in the genus ''[Tylecodon](/source/Tylecodon)'' belonging to the family [Crassulaceae](/source/Crassulaceae).{{cite web|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:276916-1|title=''Tylecodon paniculatus'' (L.f.) Toelken|accessdate=6 February 2022|work=Plants of the World Online|publisher=[Royal Botanic Gardens Kew](/source/Royal_Botanic_Gardens_Kew)}} == Etymology == The genus name is a syllabic [anagram](/source/anagram) of the former name ''[Cotyledon](/source/Cotyledon_(genus))'', created by Helmut Toelken who split a few species off into a genus of their own.{{cite journal |last1=Tölken |first1=H. |title=New taxa and new combinations in Cotyledon and allied genera |journal=[Bothalia](/source/Bothalia) |date=15 December 1978 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=377–393 |doi=10.4102/abc.v12i3.1794 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283906995|doi-access=free }} The species Latin epithet refers to the shape of [inflorescence](/source/inflorescence) — branched terminal [panicles](/source/Panicle). The common names refer to soft, fleshy and brittle stems. For centuries children have used the soft, slippery stems as sleds.{{cite book |last1=Coates Palgrave |first1=Keith |title=Trees of southern Africa |date=2002 |publisher=Struik Publishers |location=Cape Town |isbn=1868723895 |page=239 |edition=3rd, New / rev. and updated by Meg Coates Palgrave}} ==Description== ''Tylecodon paniculatus'' is a thickset, robust succulent dwarf tree up to 2.5–3 m tall, with very fat stems with usually well branched rounded crown. The single main trunk and branches are covered with mustard-yellow to olive-green bark peeling in papery semi-translucent sheets. Branches are short, with prominent leaf scars. Leaves are clustered and spirally arranged around the apex of the growing tips simple during the wintertime; they are paddle-shaped, 5–12 cm long and 2–10 cm wide, thickly succulent, bright yellowish-green; apex is broadly tapering to rounded, base is tapering without petiole. The plant is [deciduous](/source/deciduous). Inflorescences are spectacular slender, ascending [thyrses](/source/Thyrse) to 40 cm, with bright crimson-red stalks. Flowers have five joined [sepals](/source/Sepal) and five joined [petals](/source/Petal), forming an orange-yellow to red urn-shaped tube 1.5–2.5 cm long with spreading lobes. Ten [stamens](/source/Stamen) are pendulous at first, then upright as the petal-tube dries.{{cite book |last1=Eggli |first1=Urs |title=Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Crassulaceae |date=2003 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-642-55874-0 |pages=359}}{{cite book |last1=F. Smith |first1=Gideon |last2=R Crouch |first2=Neil |last3=Figueiredo |first3=Estrela |title=Field Guide to Succulents of Southern Africa |date=2017 |publisher=Penguin Random House South Africa |isbn=9781775843672 |pages=317}} It hybridises with ''[Tylecodon wallichii](/source/Tylecodon_wallichii)''.{{cite book |last1=Manning |first1=John C.. |title=Field guide to wild flowers of South Africa |date=2013 |publisher=Random House Struik |location=Cape Town |isbn=9781920544874 |page=236}} ==Habitat== Rocky slopes in [Succulent Karoo](/source/Succulent_Karoo). ==Distribution== The species grows in the arid, winter rain-fall regions from [Namibia](/source/Namibia) to the southwestern [South Africa](/source/South_Africa). ==Toxicity== The plant contains [bufadienolide](/source/bufadienolide)-type [cardiac glycoside](/source/cardiac_glycoside) cotyledoside which causes cotyledonosis or nenta poisoning ("krimpsiekte") in sheep and goats.{{cite book |last1=Kellerman |first1=T. S. |last2=Coetzer |first2=J. A. W. |last3=Naudé |first3=T. W. |last4=Botha |first4=C. J. |title=Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in southern Africa |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0195761344 |pages=116–146 |edition=2nd}} ==Subspecies== * ''Tylecodon paniculatus subsp. paniculatus '' — southwestern Namibia through to Cape Province. * ''Tylecodon paniculatus subsp. glaucus'' van Jaarsv. — Namibia. ==Gallery== File:Tylecodon paniculatus Richtersveld.jpg|Young plant in the early spring in [Richtersveld](/source/Richtersveld). File:Tylecodon paniculatus-PICT2534.jpg|Flowering plant in [ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park](/source/%C7%80Ai-%C7%80Ais%2FRichtersveld_Transfrontier_Park). File:Tylecodon paniculatus01.jpg|Inflorescences are borne in late spring to mid-summer just as the plant sheds its leaves. File:Tylecodon paniculatus Flower.jpg|Flowers in [Anysberg Nature Reserve](/source/Anysberg_Nature_Reserve). ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}} * [http://www.bihrmann.com/caudiciforms/subs/tyl-pan-sub.asp Bihrmann] * [https://worldofsucculents.com/tylecodon-paniculatus-butter-tree/ World of Succulents] {{Taxonbar|from=Q2462606}} Category:Plants described in 1978 Category:Flora of the Cape Provinces Category:Flora of Namibia paniculatus Category:Taxa named by Hellmut R. Toelken {{Crassulaceae-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tylecodon paniculatus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylecodon_paniculatus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylecodon_paniculatus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.