Synonyms:

No synonyms are recorded for this species name.

Habitat:

Cotyledon ladismithiensis f. variegated is a nursery-produced cultivar and thus doesn’t exist in nature.
The original natural habitat of Cotyledon ladismithiensis, the species from which the variegata cultivar was created, is a limited area in the south of Ladismith and a few places near Laingsburg, in Little Karoo, South Africa.

Description:

Cotyledon ladismithiensis f. variegated is a rare cultivar, very sought after among succulent lovers for its peculiar foliage, made of rounded, hairy, pat-shaped leaves, that have peculiar teeth at the very top of their edge that make them really look like green pats! So pretty. The variegated form is even more attractive, with the pale yellow additional tinge that can regard entire leaves, sections of leaves, or either can manifest on the form of nuances on overall green leaves. These cute leaves are very small and crowded along slender (3-4 millimeters thick), also hairy stems. The inflorescence is called a thyrse, which is an arrangement in which the main axis grows indeterminately, and the subaxes (branches) have determinate growth, like it happens in lilacs. The single flowers are pendulous, reddish and tubular, also hairy, borne on a slender, 20 centimeters long stalk.

Cultivation:

Cotyledon ladismithiensis f. variegated is not difficult to grow. Here below are our cultivation tips:

Place it in partial shade, under filtered sunlight. Direct sunlight enhances the yellow tinges of the variegated form. Keep it away, however, from direct sunlight during the hottest hours of Summer days. Don’t move abruptly the plant under direct sunlight, unless it will remains sunburnt.
Its minimum tolerated temperature is 5ºC but it can also stand short periods of frost, down to -2ºC, if its substrate is maintained completely dry. However, to stay safe, we advice to put it indoors in Winter, especially to keep it away from Winter rains.
Cotyledon ladismithiensis f. variegated is remarkably drought-tolerant. Water regularly during the growth season, always waiting for the soil to dry up completely before each watering. In Autumn, gradually decrease watering frequency until watering once a month in Winter.
Fertilization can be carried out once or twice during the growing season, using a specific product for succulent plants and diluting it with watering.
Cotyledon ladismithiensis f. variegated grows rather fast. Repot it once a year or anytime you see that the plant outgrows its pot. 

Propagation:

The multiplication of this plant can be done by cuttings, seeds or suckers. To take off the suckers is probably the fastest and safest method. Regarding cuttings, take them off instead between May and June and use a stick fitted with at least 3-4 leaves as a cutting. You can also use leaf cuttings, planting them in a sandy soil. Cuttings, in general, root easily.

Curiosity:

Cotyledons grow slowly and do not produce flowers before three years of age. Their name comes from the typical shape of a spoon of its leaves, from the Greek word kòtile (cavity) because of its leaves with a hollowed shape. It has got the same root as the word “cotyledons”, used in botany to indicate the two halves of the same seed or legume.

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