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Cotyledon pendens (Cliff Cotyledon) – A much branched, relatively fast growing dense succulent shrublet with pendent branches that forms a dense mat 2 feet wide or hangs down in a solid cover curtain-like over a pot or wall this same distance. The fresh new stems are soft, slightly hairy and a whitish-green color but becoming glabrous with age. Thick succulent elliptically shaped pale green oppositely arranged leaves are crowded along the slender stems and initially are covered with a white waxy bloom. The leaves have a web shaped leaf base and apiculate tip and are attractively marked by reddish leaf margins when grown in full sun. In mid-summer at branch tips in a pendent 4 inch long slender stemmed white colored thyrse inflorescence are produced two to four (sometimes singly) bell shaped nearly 2-inch-long orange-red flowers with spreading petal lobes and protruding yellow stamens.
Plant in full to part sun in a well-drained soil and water occasionally to infrequently. It has proven hardy to at least a light frost and suitable for outdoor cultivation in coastal and southern California, but protection may be required if temperatures dip much below freezing. This attractive succulent makes a great hanging basket or potted plant subject or planted as a groundcover growing over a wall.
Cotyledon pendens has a very limited natural distribution along south facing (away from the sun) cliff faces of the Bashe River from 1,000 to 1,300 feet in elevation in the summer rainfall Eastern Cape of South Africa, where it can be found anchored in crevices with the stems forming solid drooping mats. This species was described in 2003 by Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden botanist Ernst van Jaarsveld, who found the plants while studying cliff-dwelling succulent in the area in 2001. The first plants were retrieved to be grown on at Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden by throwing rocks at plants on the cliffs to knock down stems. The name for the genus originated from the Greek word 'kotyledon' or 'kotyle' meaning "cupped", "hollowed" or "a cavity" but the reason it is used for this genus has to do with the original inclusion of the round cup-leafed Pennywort (Umbilicus rupestris) in the genus. The specific epithet refers to this plant's pendent growth habit. We started growing this interesting Cotyledon in 2020 and continued to offer it until we closed the nursery in 2025.
The information displayed on this page about Cotyledon pendens is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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