Cotyledon is a genus of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae. Mostly from Southern Africa, they also occur throughout the drier parts of Africa as far north as the Arabian Peninsula. Members of the genus are shrublets, generally succulent, with fleshily woody, brittle stems and persistent succulent leaves. The leaves are opposite. Leaf pairs generally are oriented at 90 degrees to their preceding and following pairs, as is common in the family Crassulaceae, but the leaf habit differs from say Tylecodon (in which the leaves are borne in spirals and are deciduous). Most plants in the genus, and those that used to be included in the genus Cotyledon, are poisonous, even dangerously so. Some have been implicated in stock losses among goats, pigs and poultry. However, many species have long been used in traditional medicine. They have been applied for many purposes, ranging from magic charms to removal of corns.

Cotyledon pendens, commonly known as cliff cotyledon in English and kransplakkie or kransklokkies in Afrikaans, is a rare succulent shrublet with hanging branches and flowers, only known from sheer cliff faces along the Bashe River in the Eastern Cape (former Transkei region). Plants have a pendent growth, well suited to hanging baskets, which is retained in cultivation and are thus well adapted to the sheer habitat. The drooping stems will root where they come in contact with any crevice, establishing new clones. The grey-green succulent leaves, covered with powdery bloom, are an adaptation to its dry habitat. Cotyledon pendens has conspicuous orange-red bell-shaped flowers pollinated by birds.