Cotyledoneae Dumortier (1829: 38) emend. Gideon F.Sm.

1.1 Crassulaceae [subfam. Cotyledonoideae ]

tr. Cotyledoneae Dumortier (1829: 38) emend. Gideon F.Sm.

( Figs 1–3 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 View FIGURE 3 ).

Type:— Cotyledon Linnaeus (1753: 429) , nom. cons., i.e., as for Crassulaceae subfam. Cotyledonoideae ( Turland et al. 2025: Art. 10.10).

Synonym:— Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae Berger (1930: 383) emend. Gideon F.Sm. in Smith & Monro (2022b: 247), pro parte, excl. type, i.e., Kalanchoe Adanson (1763: 248) which belongs in Crassulaceae tr. Kalanchoeae (see “1.2”, below).

Designation not validly published:—“ Crassulaceae [subfam. Cotyledonoideae ] tr. Cotyledoneae ”, listed by Maire (1977: 269), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2025: Art. 41.5).

Taxa included:—Three genera (here listed in the chronological sequence in which they were described): Cotyledon Linnaeus (1753: 429) , nom. cons.; Adromischus Lemaire (1852: 59) ; and Tylecodon Tölken (1978: 378) .

Taxa excluded, based on the concept of Dumortier (1829: 38):—Eight genera (here listed in the chronological sequence in which they were described): Kalanchoe Adanson (1763: 248) ; Umbilicus Candolle (1801: 1) ; Rochea Candolle (1802 : t. 103), nom. cons.; Bryophyllum Salisbury (1805 : t. 3); Grammanthes Candolle (1828: 392) , nom. illeg., i.e., Vauanthes Haworth (1821: 18) ; Pistorinia Candolle (1828: 399) ; and Echeveria Candolle (1828: 401) .

Diagnosis:—Taxa included in Crassulaceae [subfam. Cotyledonoideae ] tr. Cotyledoneae as circumscribed here differ from taxa included in Crassulaceae [subfam. Cotyledonoideae ] tr. Kalanchoeae by the flowers being pentamerous, not tetramerous (as found in Crassulaceae [subfam. Cotyledonoideae ] tr. Kalanchoeae ), and by the leaves being persistent or deciduous, while those of representatives of Crassulaceae [subfam. Cotyledonoideae ] tr. Kalanchoeae are persistent.

Description:—Perennial herbs, subshrubs, or shrubs, or rarely tree-like. Leaves decussate or more rarely in whorls of three or alternate, succulent, flat, sometimes folded or terete, sometimes densely white-waxy-pruinose or variously hairy, persistent or deciduous; margins crenate, dentate, or entire. Flowers pentamerous, often colourful, showy, erect, spreading, or pendent. Petals substantially or weakly united into a tube; corolla tube generally exceeding corolla lobes in length. Stamens twice as many as petals. Seeds small, often dust-like, costate.

Nomenclatural note:— Crassulaceae tr. Cotyledoneae is not to be interpreted as the autonymic tribe of the subfamily because autonyms do not exist above the rank of genus ( Turland et al. 2025: 230, ‘Glossary’).

Taxonomic notes:— Dumortier (1829: 38) (see above under ‘ Taxa excluded, based on the concept of Dumortier (1829: 38):—’) followed a very broad concept of Crassulaceae tr. Cotyledonoideae . Maire (1977: 269–292), too, implemented a not entirely dissimilar very broad circumscription of Cotyledon and treated Pistorinia Candolle (1828: 399) , Umbilicus Candolle (1801: 1) , and Mucizonia ( Candolle 1828: 399) Battandier & Trabut (1905: 131 , 133, 441) at the rank of subgenus under Cotyledon .

Following Smith & Monro (2024: 296), taxa included in Pistorinia , Umbilicus , and Mucizonia —that is, if the genera are upheld at all; for example Mucizonia is most often included in the synonymy of Sedum Linnaeus (1753: 430) —are here excluded from Crassulaceae subfam. Cotyledonoideae .