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Kalanchoe daigremontiana | |
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Plantlets on leaves | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Saxifragales |
Family: | Crassulaceae |
Genus: | Kalanchoe |
Species: | K. daigremontiana |
Binomial name | |
Kalanchoe daigremontiana | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Kalanchoe daigremontiana, formerly known as Bryophyllum daigremontianum and commonly called mother of thousands, or Mexican hat plant, is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. Like other members of Bryophyllum (now included in the genus Kalanchoe ), [1] it can propagate vegetatively from plantlets that develop on its leaf margins, as well as through upshoots from lateral roots, and seeds. All parts of this species contain a very toxic steroid known as daigremontianin. [2] [3]
It is often confused with K. laetivirens, K. delagoensis and K. × houghtonii. The leaves of K. laetivirens are completely green, while K. daigremontiana has bands or spots on the back of leaves. The leaves of K. delagoensis are linear, while K. daigremontiana has lanceolate, oblong, ovate or triangular leaves. K. × houghtonii is a hybrid between K. daigremontiana and K. delagoensis, therefore has characteristics in between; its leaves are narrower than those of K. daigremontiana, and its leaf base is attenuate, cuneate to weakly cordate or auriculate, while K. daigremontiana has strongly cordate to auriculate or even peltate leaves. [4]
Plants grow up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall [5] and have opposite and whorled, fleshy oblong-lanceolate leaves which grow up to 20 cm (8 in) long and 32 mm (1+1⁄4 in) wide. They are green above and blotched with purple underneath. Leaf margins have spoon-shaped bulbiliferous spurs which bear plantlets which may form roots while still attached to leaves. [6]
A plant may also develop lateral roots on its main stalk, as high up as 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) above the ground. A plant's upper leaves may grow large, causing its main stalk to bend downward. Then the lateral roots may enter soil and new vertical shoots may grow from the original shoot. Kalanchoe daigremontiana can spread by both seeds and by plantlets dropped from its leaves.
Kalanchoe daigremontiana has an umbrella-like terminal inflorescence (a compound cyme) of small bell-shaped, grayish pink (or sometimes orange) flowers. Flowering is, however, not an annual event and occurs sporadically if at all on some shoots. Particularly in climates with distinct seasonal temperature differences, flowering is most frequently observed at the beginning of a warm season. Indoor plants, as well as balcony plants which have been moved inside to survive the cold season, begin flowering in early winter.
As a succulent plant, K. daigremontiana can survive prolonged periods of drought with little or no water. During growth periods with higher temperatures and increased water supply, this species requires proper nutrition, without which leaves show deficiency symptoms such as crippled growth and pustule-like lesions. The plant is not frost-hardy and typically dies in places where temperatures are below freezing.
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Plants of the genus Kalanchoe as well as many other plants growing in arid regions photosynthesize via Crassulacean acid metabolism.
Kalanchoe daigremontiana is native to the Fiherenana River valley and Androhibolava mountains in southwest Madagascar. It has been introduced to numerous tropical and subtropical regions, such as Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and parts of southern Europe.
Kalanchoe daigremontiana prefers to grow in rocky and dry places.
It can become an invasive plant and threaten natural ecosystems, especially in arid and semi-arid environments (South Africa and regions of South America for example), where it can inhibit native-plant recruitment. [7]
Vegetative reproduction is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or specialized reproductive structures, which are sometimes called vegetative propagules.
KalanchoeKAL-ən-KOH-ee, also written Kalanchöe or Kalanchoë, is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. A Kalanchoe species was one of the first plants to be sent into space, sent on a resupply to the Soviet Salyut 1 space station in 1979. The majority of kalanchoes require around 6-8 hours of sunlight a day; a few cannot tolerate this, and survive with bright, indirect sunlight to bright shade.
Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (Orchidaceae), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs, the warm-temperate rainforest rata, and pohutukawa trees of New Zealand. Vines such as common ivy and poison ivy also have aerial roots.
Kalanchoe beharensis is a plant species in the succulent genus Kalanchoe, and the family Crassulaceae. Kalanchoe beharensis is native to Madagascar known by local names mongy, rongy and tavitavy.
A plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetative (asexual) propagation. A piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil. If the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent, a process known as striking. A stem cutting produces new roots, and a root cutting produces new stems. Some plants can be grown from leaf pieces, called leaf cuttings, which produce both stems and roots. The scions used in grafting are also called cuttings.
In botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves or of structures resembling leaves.
Bryophyllum is a group of plant species of the family Crassulaceae native to Madagascar. It is a section or subgenus within the genus Kalanchoe, and was formerly placed at the level of genus. This section is notable for vegetatively growing small plantlets on the fringes of the leaves; these eventually drop off and root. These plantlets arise from mitosis of meristematic-type tissue in notches in the leaves.
Cotyledon orbiculata, commonly known as pig's ear or round-leafed navel-wort, is a South African succulent plant belonging to the genus Cotyledon.
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a herbaceous and commonly cultivated house plant of the genus Kalanchoe native to Madagascar. It is known by the English common names flaming Katy, Christmas kalanchoe, florist kalanchoe and Madagascar widow's-thrill.
Kalanchoe delagoensis, formerly known as Bryophyllum delagoense and commonly called mother of millions or chandelier plant, is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. Like other members of Bryophyllum, it is able to propagate vegetatively from plantlets that develop on its leaf margins.
Kalanchoe pinnata, commonly known as cathedral bells, air plant, life plant, miracle leaf, and Goethe plant is a succulent plant native to Madagascar. It is a popular houseplant and has become naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas. The species is distinctive for the profusion of miniature plantlets that form on the margins of its phylloclades, a trait it has in common with some other members of Bryophyllum.
Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi, formerly known as Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi, native to Madagascar, is widely sold as a house or garden plant that has established itself in the wild in some southern parts of the United States of America. Its specific epithet fedtschenkoi honors botanist Boris Fedtschenko (1873-1947).
Dracaena pinguicula, synonym Sansevieria pinguicula, also known as the walking sansevieria, is a xerophytic CAM succulent native to the Bura area of Kenya, near Garissa. The species was described by Peter René Oscar Bally in 1943.
Pachyphytum is a small genus of succulents in the family Crassulaceae, native to Mexico, at elevations from 600 to 1,500 metres. The name comes from the ancient Greek pachys (=thick) and phyton (=plant) because of the shape of the leaves.
Kalanchoe manginii, beach bells, is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae, native to Madagascar. It is an evergreen succulent perennial growing to 30 cm (12 in) tall and wide, with arching branches of rounded, glossy leaves, and urn-shaped salmon-red flowers in spring. As the minimum temperature for growth is 10 °C (50 °F), in temperate regions this plant must be grown under glass as a houseplant.
Hypericum undulatum, the wavy St Johns Wort, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant native to western Europe and northern Africa. The specific name undulatum is Latin, meaning "wavy" or "undulated", referring, just as the common name, to the wavy leaf margins of the herb. The plant has a diploid number of 16 or 32.
Kalanchoe suarezensis is a species of Kalanchoe native to northern Madagascar.
Kalanchoe mortagei is a species of Kalanchoe native to northern Madagascar. It is very similar to K. suarezensis, and both of them used to be mistakenly treated as varieties of a totally different species K. poincarei. K. mortagei differs by having auriculate to peltate leaves, while the leaf base of K. suarezensis is attenuate to truncate.
Kalanchoe laetivirens is a species of Kalanchoe. It is most likely a hybrid between K. daigremontiana and K. laxiflora, and therefore a group of invalid names for such a hybrid, including Kalanchoe crenodaigremontiana, Kalanchoe crenato-daigremontiana, Bryophyllum crenodaigremontianum and Bryophyllum crenato-daigremontianum, are just synonyms of K. laetivirens.
Kalanchoe × houghtonii is a hybrid between K. daigremontiana and K. delagoensis named after Arthur Duvernoix Houghton. It is often confused with K. daigremontiana which has strongly cordate to auriculate or even peltate leaves, while the leaves of K. × houghtonii are narrower and the leaf base is attenuate, cuneate to weakly cordate or auriculate.