Cotyledon eliseae
C. eliseae is an easy plant readily grown from cuttings
Photo author unknown.
Cotyledon eliseae is named after the late Elise Van Wijk a botanical artist. It was described by EVJ in 1997 in Bradleya.
It might be the most common Cotyledon in European collections, an indication of the ease by which it can be grown. It is a small much branched shrublet with an erect habit. The grass green leaves have a nice red top edge when grown in bright light.
It also has deep orange-red flowers with a narrow corolla tube and slender lobes. A very pretty sight.
C. eliseae could be confused with other small Cotyledons like some forms of C. papillaris, C woodii or C. pendens. But the upright stems, the green sticky leaves and the slender sticky flower should distinghuish it.
C. eliseae Mossel bay district, SA. Photo © Kevin Koen
Plant shape
C. eliseae is a small shrublet growing on steep cliffs. It remains rather low in stature, no higher than 20cm.
It has grass green leaves with a red margin. The are flat, slightly hairy and sticky. They have a short petiole.
C. eliseae flower showing the glandular hairs
Flowers
The inflorescence is an erect thyrse, usually dark coloured and hairy. It carries 1-3 flowers.
The flowers have a narrow corolla tube only 0.5cm wide. The calyx lobes are also sticky hairy and often also coloured red.
The corolla tube is about 1.2cm long and the recurved corolla lobes are narrow and about 15-18mm long. The yellow stamens are exerted.
Where
C. eliseae is endemic to the lower parts of the Gouritz river in the Western Cape. It lives on steep cliffs on a western aspect
Variability
C. eliseae has no varieties or subspecies.
More pics
C. eliseae
Photo © Jacquie Koutsoudis