All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Encyclopaedia of Succulents. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.

This charismatic bonsai-like dwarf shrub is a delightful plant which can grow, during our Winter. In our Summer it is completely dormant and should be given a rest.
 

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Scientific name:  Tylecodon buchholzianus (Schuldt & P.Stephan) Toelken

NOTE: Previously named Cotyledon bucholziana this species is correctly Tylecodon buchholzianus

Origin:  Costal region from South-western Mamibia to the Richtersveld (in the areas near the Orange River mouth) Cape Province, South Africa.

Habitat:  Grows mainly under-shrubs and do best with some shade in the summer.
 

Description: Slow growing, dwarf bonsai-like shrub, the typical variety is erect to about 20 cm. The plant has a swollen rootstock (caudex) which qualifies it to be a caudiciform. It is a winter growing species, the growth starts as early as October, but really takes off during the first warmer days of spring.
Caudex and stems: The caudex is slightly thickened, with many well branched pale greyish to blackish stems, side branchlets usually short, nearly always leafless, the bark faking.
Leaves: Tylecodon buchholzianus is unique among the Tylecodon. It can grow branches without evidence of leaves. Microscopic leaflets perform the function of normal leaves, allowing the branches to grow. It is also capable of setting normal leaves in the spring; They are linear terete, 5-15 mm long, curving upwards, glabrous.
Flowers: Glabrous pink to red, usually solitary supported by a 10 mm long peduncle, the tube is 13mm long, the lobes are recurved.
Blooming season: January to march (Or late spring)
 

Tylecodon buchholzianus is one of the stranger and smaller Tylecodon. It can grow through photosynthesis in the stem, and only rarely bothers to set leaves at all.

Cultivation: Not particularly difficult to grow using a well drained, cactus compost and exposed to bright light. It is a winter grower, dormant in the summer. In the growing season water when the roots are almost dry, prefer little or no water in summer, depending on size. Winter minimum temperature is 5ºC but better at 8ºC. The leaves easily drop off in cool conditions. Re pot every 2/3 years using the above compost with added slow release fertilizer. This species usually stay compact but if the plant get leggy with time it is possible to prune it during the growing period to keep it tight and to encourage caudex enlargement. It can be cut back severely and will quickly recover when growth starts in the spring.

Propagation: Fairly easy to propagate from cuttings in late Autumn, the fallen leaves sometimes produce adventitious roots but usually they fail to produce a growing bud.
 

All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Encyclopaedia of Succulents. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.