Cotyledon egglii
C. egglii in my greenhouse
Cotyledon egglii is an evergreen shrub from Mpumalanga and Swaziland. It is easily recognized by its spatula-shaped leaves.
It grows on rocky ground in savanna vegetation in the mountains between Eswatini and South Africa and in the Lubombo range in Swaziland.
the species was named after Dr Urs Eggli from the Sukkulenten Sammlung at Zurich, in Switzerland.
c. egglii is a branched shrub
Plant shape
C. egglii is an erect branched shrub that grows about 60cm tall.
The leaves are a green and oppositely positioned mostly at the end of the branches. They are hairy and broadly or narrowly wedge-shaped. This form is a distinguishing character.
The leaf margin may have a red colour.
C. egglii flower.
Photo © by Duncan McKenzie on inaturalist.org
Flowers
The inflorescence is erect and between 20 and 30cm. It ends in a thyrse which bears 3-10 flowers. The flower is dull orange of colour covered with a powdery bloom. It is about 3cm long.
The calyx sepals are elongated triangular, white.
The corolla tube is somewhat longer than the lobes.
The stamens are exerted .
Variability
C. egglii doesn't have any described variaties or subspecies.
Where
C. egglii grows only in the Barberton mountains stradling the Eswatini-SA border and in the Ubombo range in the east of Eswatini and into the SA lowveld.
It grows on rocky slopes and sheer cliffs on these mountains. The area receives much more rain than the surrounding savanna landscape.
More pics
C. egglii, Mlawula nature reserve, Eswatini.
Photo © by Kate Braun on inaturalist.org