If you are looking for suitable plants for your window or garden, consider your search ended and heed my advice. The kalanchoids are the plants for you!
Probably you are wondering, what are kalanchoids?
Stonecrop Family
Simply it is a collective word applied to a subfamily under Crassulaceae, which commonly you know as the stonecrop or orpine family.
Members of the Crassulaceae family are numbered in the thousands and are scattered throughout the world, and all of them are classed as succulents.
Crassus: Succulent of Plants
The family name itself is derived from the Greek word “Crassus” which means thick, describing the succulent habit of these plants.
Crassulaceae is a complex family at best. The late Alwin Berger, who is still regarded as one of the leading investigators of succulents, has, for convenience, divided the family into six subfamilies.
The kalanchoids, which we will discuss here, are only one of them.
Among the kalanchoids you will find some of the most ornamental and peculiar members of the plant kingdom.
They are being used effectively in landscape work, in warmer regions such as Florida, Texas, and California.
Kalanchoids in a Warm Weather
None of the kalanchoids tolerates frost. They are useful as warm-weather foundation plantings, bedding plants on hillsides and terraces, planter boxes, and even hanging basket ornaments.
Generally speaking, three genera (or kinds) are included in this subfamily. They are Kalanchoe, Bryofrhyllum, and Kitchingia.
It is admittedly hard to draw a line between these three genera, and because of this, botanists disagree on whether to use one name for all the plants in the group or to consider these three names more suitable.
I will try to explain simply so that the reader can decide for himself what plants he has.
Kalanchoe Genus
The genus Kalanchoe was named by Adanson in 1763. Forty-six years later, Salisbury coined Bryophyllum. Baker published Kitchingia in 1881.
These three genera represent all the kalanchoids. Included in the group are over 200 different species and varieties.
For the non-technical gardener, it is easier to identify the plants by leaf behavior than by the flowers.
As far as I know, the leaves of kalanchoes never produce young plants along the margins, as does the bryophyllum.
But when leaves of kalanchoes are placed in sand new plants arise from the base of the leaf stem.
Kalanchoe Flowers
Kalanchoe flowers all stand erect and took like those of a bouvardia (handsome greenhouse flowering shrub) or, in some species like nicotiana, the tobacco.
Most bryophyllum produce tiny plants from notches along the margins of the leaves or the tips, even while the leaves are still attached to the mother plant.
The flowers are always nodding or pendant with a more or less inflated look, like miniature lanterns hanging on slender threads from the flowering stalks.
Kitchingias: Nodding Flowers
Kitchingias also have nodding flowers with spreading carpels (units of the pistil) and longer styles (the shank of the pistil).
Most kalanchoids come from Madagascar and South Africa, although a few species have a worldwide distribution in the tropics.
For instance, Bryophyllum pinned/mi. (the one commonly called air plant) is often seen growing wild in many out-of-the-way places in the old and new worlds.
I once found this plant along a small brook near Cordoba in Vera Cruz, Mexico.
It grew luxuriantly in half shade, and anyone not acquainted with it could easily have thought it a native.
Brynphyllum Daigremontianuni and Bryn Tubiflorum
Brynphyllum Daigremontianuni and Bryophyllum tubiflorurn will soon become cosmopolitan also, for these two can produce hundreds of offspring from their leaves which, dropping to the ground, grow into mature plants in a remarkably short time.
They were introduced into the trade abouty 100 years ago.
Greenhouse Nuisance
Both of these species can become a greenhouse nuisance as the tiny plants grow wherever they fall and must constantly be weeded out.
Most kalanchoids are earth-bound plants and grow on the ground in forests, plains, and deserts tinder many conditions.
Some, however, are also epiphytic—that is, they grow on trunks of trees in tropical forests in Madagascar.
Recently, a friend of mine who was living in Guatemala sent me a few tiny plants from trees, and among them were the stems of Bryophyllum tubiflorum.
As Pot Plants
Kalanchoids, on the whole, are easy plants to grow; most will grow in pots. In fact, many are quite attractive as pot plants, especially when kept small.
They tolerate almost any kind of soil but prefer friable one, composed of well-rotted leaf mold, sand, and good loam. They need not be fed unless the soil is deficient in food.
Most are robust growers in the sun, and many species become highly colorful. Given too much shade, they will tend toward spindliness.
If the plants grow too tall for the window, they can be pruned, and the cut stems rooted easily in sand.
Most of the plants, after blooming, produce many seeds. The seed is fine and must only be scattered over moist soil for germination.
Germination and Lead Propagation
Germination usually takes place in 2 weeks, and flowers can be expected within a year. Leaf propagation is a fast method of increasing the stock.
The leaves are quite succulent and will hold life for a long time.
If you try to press leaf specimens of kalanchoids, they will start to sprout between blotters unless you dip them first in hot water to kill them.
Most Ideal Plants: Kalanchoids
Kalanchoids are probably the most ideal plants for occupational therapy workers in hospitals.
Patients can find enjoyment and interest in watching the plants grow. The plants require little care and effort.
Kalanchoids are also excellent for teaching young gardeners about nature’s ways. Kalanchoids fit nicely in flower arrangements and will keep for a long time without water.
Shoots of bryophyllums often have the desired curve or pastel shade needed in a beautiful, colorful table piece.
Branches of bryophyllum and kitchingia also seem to infuse a subtle softness and warmth into an Oriental arrangement.
Pagoda Plant: Bryophyllums
For the collector, the kalanchoids offer great diversity. Let us first discuss some of the choice Bryophyllums.
Bryophyllums Daigremontianum
Foremost in mind is Bryophyllums Daigremontianum from Madagascar. It has large broad oval to triangular, glossy, purple-hued leaves, which produce innumerable plantlets along the finely-notched margins.
This is called the pagoda plant because the leaf arrangement reminds one of the many-storied Chinese temples.
Bryophyllums Fedtschenkoi
A great favorite with women is Bryophyllums Fedtschenkoi—also from Madagascar. The long stems lend themselves admirably to flower arrangements.
It is a wonderful plant for porch boxes, the small rounded notched leaves presenting a variety of .pastel shades from powder blue to pink to lavender.
Oldest Bryophyllums: Bryophyllums Pinnalum
The oldest known of all the bryophyllums is Bryophyllums Pinnalum, which is used as a good hick plant in many countries.
Department stores often sell the leaves in cellophane bags. The leaves are large and of beautiful green color.
Bryophyllums Tubiflorum: Chandelier Plant
The greenish flowers appear in clusters like an ornate light fixture, and because of this resemblance, it is sometimes called the chandelier plant.
The now very common Bryophyllums Tubiflorum has long tubular, weirdly mottled leaves.
The tiny plants appear only at the leaf tips. The flowers are elongated bells, pale lavender pink.
A most interesting hybrid was made by crossing Bryophyllums Daigremontianum and Bryophyllums Tubillorum.
Bryophyllums Uniflorum
The offspring look like tiny coconut trees used extensively in dish gardens. Bryophyllums Uniflorum is unlike any other kalanchoid in that it is a trailing, stem-rooting plant on the order of the creeping fig, with small, thick, roundish leaves.
Its large coral-red blossoms come on threadlike stemiets at the ends of the slender branches.
Bryophyllums Scandens
An attractive climber with mouse-colored foliage and flowers is Bryophyllums Scandens.
It looks somewhat like Bryophyllums tubiflorum on account of the slender stem and somewhat semi-tubular leaves, which produce plantlets at the leaf tips.
Bryophyllums Miniatum
Bryophyllums Miniatum is still another exciting life plant—for bryophyllum literally means just that. The stems attain a height of three feet and bear pinkish-red flowers.
Types of Kalanchoes
Kalanchoes, by far, are the showiest bloomers of all kalanchoids—especially the group which produces compact, nearly flattened clusters of red, yellow, orange, pink, and even white flowers.
The best known for spectacular flowers are;
- Kalanchoe flamrnea,
- Kalanchoe Blossfcldiana, and
- Kalanchoes Grandiflora.
In my estimation, Kalanchoe flammea is probably the finest from the standpoint of showiness.
The plants are bushy, about a foot high, with green succulent leaves and flowers of brilliant scarlet, appearing in clusters as broad as a man’s fist.
Kalanchoe Blessfeldiana
Next in favor is Kalanchoe Blessfeldiana rose to prominence in 1931. Several strains developed from this species are now on the market.
The plant grows eight to 12” inches in height, is much branched, and is completely covered by bright green, shiny, succulent leaves; the flowers arise in erect clusters from each branch, making it a real horticultural sensation.
This striking succulent is a winter bloomer and makes an attractive pot plant around Christmas time with its glowing scarlet red blossoms.
Kalanchoe Kirkii, Welwitschli, and Tomentosa
Kalanchoes Kirkii is still another winter bloomer. The whole plant is downy and velvety to the touch. The flowers of a creamish yellow, orange-scarlet hue last for several weeks.
Kalanchoes Welwitschli is an excellent mass grouper for a conservatory. The leaves are egg-shaped but pointed, quite large, and distinctly purplish. The flowers, produced on long cymes, are yellow
Many of the kalanchoes possess extremely good and colorful foliage. One of the best in this category is Kalanchoes tomentosa, often referred to as the panda plant.
The long, lance-shaped leaves are very downy, presenting a silvery appearance. The upper margins of the leaves are beautifully marked with brown spots.
The flowers are inconspicuous, but the colorful foliage makes up for them.
Giant Kalanchoe Beliarensis
Kalanchoe beliarensis is another beauty with thick plush-like leaves of gray-green to rusty brown.
This plant is a giant among the kalanchoids for it easily attains a height of 20 feet in its native Madagascar, where it grows in dense thickets.
The large leaves exceed any other kalanchoe in size and will become 18 inches long. It is a shy bloomer in cultivation, but again this one is grown for its elegant foliage rather than for flowers.
Kalanchoe Marmorata: The Penwiper Plant
Kalanchoe marmorata, the penwiper plant, was first discovered in 1839. It is a stout, low-branching shrub and has pale gray-green, egg-shaped ovate leaves, which are conspicuously speckled with purple-brown spots, giving the plant a marbled effect.
The flowers are creamy white, with long slender tubes nearly 3” inches in length. A fitting companion is Kalanchoes somaliensis from Somaliland.
It is a densely-branched low bush, less than a foot high, with deeply notched, fleshy gray-green leaves.
The flowers are quite similar to Kalanchoes marmorata but often much longer. Still, another worthwhile subject is Kalanchoes orgyalis. This one has rusty brown, sandpaper-like hair covering the leaves.
44659 by Ladislaus Cutak