Cotyledon turlandii (Crassulaceae [subfam. Cotyledonoideae] tr. Cotyledoneae), a new cliff-dwelling species from the Maputaland-Pondoland Region of Endemism in eastern South Africa, with nomenclatural notes on the name Cotyledon zuluensis
Only for the past ca. 50 years has the genus-rank circumscription of Cotyledon (Crassulaceae [subfam. Cotyledonoideae] tr. Cotyledoneae), one of the first crassuloid genera recognised by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, reached reasonable stability. The genus, as circumscribed by Hellmut R. Tölken in 1978 and as such still widely accepted, includes fewer than 30 species, most of which are naturally restricted to South Africa. Cotyledon is present in the winter-rainfall, western parts of the country with a Mediterranean-type climate; in the climatically severe interior above the near-coastal escarpment; and in the mild-climate, subtropical eastern and northeastern parts. In the latter two instances, rainfall is recorded all-year round or predominantly in summer. A number of new cotyledons, such as C. nielsii and C. mckayi, were recently described from the third area, i.e. the eastern subtropics of South Africa. A further new species of Cotyledon from eastern South Africa is here described, as Cotyledon turlandii. With thin, weak, pendent stems; very narrow, apically recurved leaves that are longitudinally upwards-folded along the margin; and large, near-evenly cylindrical corolla tubes, the species can be easily separated from congeners such as C. orbiculata var. oblonga, which has a very broad current circumscription and natural geographical distribution range. The new species is illustrated, along with other cotyledons that grow in its proximity. Nomenclatural notes are provided on the name C. zuluensis, and a correction to its typification is published here.