Kalanchoe

Kalanchoe is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent flowering plants in the Family Crassulaceae, mainly native to the Old World but with a few species now growing wild in the New World following introduction.

Most are shrubs or perennial herbaceous plants, but a few are annual or biennial. The largest, Kalanchoe beharensis from Madagascar, can reach 6 m tall, but most species are less than 1 m tall.

Members of Kalanchoe genus are characterized by opening their flowers by growing new cells on the inner surface of the petals to force them outwards, and on the outside of the petals to close them.

The genus was first described by the botanist Michel Adanson in 1763.


Cultivation and uses
These plants are cultivated as ornamental houseplants and rock or "succulent" garden plants. They are popular because of their ease of propagation, low water requirements, and wide variety of flower colors typically borne in clusters well above the vegetative growth. The section Bryophyllum - formerly an independent genus - contains species such as the "Air plant" Kalanchoe pinnata. In these plants, new individuals develop vegetatively as plantlets, also known as bulbils or gemmae, at indents along the leaves. These young plants eventually drop off and take root. No males have been found of one species of this genus which does flower and produce seeds, and it is commonly called, the Mother of Thousands.


Selected species
Kalanchoe beharensis (Elephant's ear Kalanchoe) is a plant species in the succulent genus Kalanchoe, endemic to Madagascar. It is a fairly large shrub in stature, up to 6 m tall. It has large, triangular opposite leaves which are irregularly lobed and typically covered with felt-like hair. In mature leaves, the hair is rusty, or even golden, on top and silvery on the underside. The leaves can reach 12-35 cm long and 7-35 cm wide. It has green-yellow urn-shape flowers with violet veining. It is grown as a decorative indoor plant, being very easy to culture. Propagation is by cutting or breaking off a leaf, letting it sit in the shade for two or three days, and then repot the leaf so it is partly covered by soil.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a commonly cultivated house plant of the genus Kalanchoe. They are succulent plants and can grow up to 12". The flowers consist of four petals and can be red, purple, orange, yellow and white and the plant may flower all year round.

Kalanchoe daigremontiana also called Devil's Backbone, Alligator Plant, Mexican Hat Plant or Mother of Thousands is a succulent plant native to Madagascar.

Kalanchoe delagoensis is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. In common with the other members of the Bryophyllum section of the genus Kalanchoe, K. delagoensis is notable for vegetatively growing small plantlets on the fringes of its leaves, leading to its common names of mother of thousands and mother of millions. The plant's capability for vegetative reproduction, its resistance to drought, and its popularity as a garden plant, have allowed the plant to become an invasive weed in places such as eastern Australia and many Pacific islands. In the Neotropics it even gets pollinated by hummingbirds on occasion.

Kalanchoe thyrsiflora (also known as Paddle Plant, Flapjacks, Desert Cabbage, White Lady, Geelplakkie, Meelplakkie, Plakkie) is a species of Kalanchoe, native to South Africa. A succulent plant producing a stalk about 1m tall, dying back after flowering. It forms a basal rosette of large, rounded, fleshy stalkless leaves, which are grayish-green with red margins, covered with a white powdery bloom. The inflorescence is terminal and erect with densely clustered thyrse-like panicles of greenish waxy flowers with yellow recurved lobes, narrowly urn-shaped. Flowering from autumn to spring. Common in grassveld amongst rocks.

Kalanchoe farinacea is a species of plant in the Crassulaceae family. It is endemic to the Yemeni island of Socotra. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland at an altitude of 100-800m.

Kalanchoe orgyalis

Kalanchoe arborescens, native to Madagascar.

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