Kalanchoe Explained

Kalanchoe,[1] [2] 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.[3] 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.

Description

Most are shrubs or perennial herbaceous plants, but a few are annual or biennial. The largest, Kalanchoe beharensis from Madagascar, can reach 60NaN0 tall, but most species are less than 10NaN0 tall.

Kalanchoes open 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. Kalanchoe flowers are divided into 4 sections with 8 stamens. The petals are fused into a tube, in a similar way to some related genera such as Cotyledon.[4]

Taxonomy

The genus Kalanchoe was first described by the French botanist Michel Adanson in 1763.[5]

The genus Bryophyllum was described by Salisbury in 1806 and the genus Kitchingia was created by Baker in 1881. Kitchingia is now regarded as a synonym for Kalanchoe, while Bryophyllum has also been treated as a separate genus,[5] since species of Bryophyllum appear to be nested within Kalanchoe on molecular phylogenetic analysis, Bryophyllum is considered as a section of the former, dividing the genus into three sections, Kitchingia, Bryophyllum, and Eukalanchoe. these were formalised as subgenera by Smith and Figueiredo (2018).

Etymology

Adanson cited Georg Joseph Kamel (Camellus) as his source for the name.[6] [7] The name came from the Cantonese name 伽藍菜 (Jyutping: gaa1 laam4 coi3).[8]

Kalanchoe ceratophylla and Kalanchoe laciniata are both called Chinese: 伽蓝菜[9] (apparently "Buddhist monastery [samghārāma] herb") in China. In Mandarin Chinese, it does not seem very close in pronunciation (qiélán cài, but possibly jiālán cài or gālán cài as the character Chinese: [[wikt:伽#Chinese|伽]] has multiple pronunciations), but the Cantonese gālàahm choi is closer.

List of selected species

List of hybrids

Several hybrids within Kalanchoe are known:

Distribution and ecology

The genus is predominantly native to the Old World. Only one species originates from the Americas. 56 are from southern and eastern Africa and 60 species on the island of Madagascar. It is also found in south-eastern Asia and China.[11]

These plants are food plants for caterpillars of the Red Pierrot butterfly. The butterfly lays its eggs on leaves, and after hatching, caterpillars burrow into the leaves and eat their inside cells.

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 leaves. 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 indentations in leaf margins. 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: Kalanchoe daigremontiana is thus an example of asexual reproduction.[12]

The cultivars 'Tessa'[13] and 'Wendy' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[14] [15]

Diseases

See main article: List of kalanchoe diseases.

Traditional medicine

In traditional medicine, Kalanchoe species have been used to treat ailments such as infections, rheumatism and inflammation. Kalanchoe extracts also have immunosuppressive effects. Kalanchoe pinnata has been recorded in Trinidad and Tobago as being used as a traditional treatment for hypertension.[16]

A variety of bufadienolide compounds have been isolated from various Kalanchoe species. Five different bufadienolides have been isolated from Kalanchoe daigremontiana.[17] [18] Two of these, daigremontianin and bersaldegenin 1,3,5-orthoacetate, have been shown to have a pronounced sedative effect. They also have the strong positive inotropic effect associated with cardiac glycosides, and with greater doses an increasing effect on the central nervous system.

Bufadienolide compounds isolated from Kalanchoe pinnata include bryophillin A which showed strong anti-tumor promoting activity, and bersaldegenin-3-acetate and bryophillin C which were less active.[19] Bryophillin C also showed insecticidal properties.[20]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607;
  2. Web site: 8 Flowering Houseplants That Provide Color Without Much Fuss.
  3. Web site: Growing Pains . Air and Space Magazine . September 2003.
  4. Web site: Characteristics of Genus Kalanchoe. www.crassulaceae.ch. 29 March 2023.
  5. Kalanchoe: The Genus and its Chromosomes. 10.2307/2436516. J. T.. Baldwin Jr.. American Journal of Botany. 572–579. 25. 8. October 1938. 2436516.
  6. Book: Adanson, Michel. Familles des plantes. 29 March 1763. Vincent. 1. 29 March 2023.
  7. Camel, J.G. Herbarum aliarumque stirpium in Insulâ Luzone Philippinarum Primariâ Nascentium In: Ray, J. (1704): Historia plantarum Book 3, Appendix p.6, item 18
  8. Chernetskyy . M. A. . 2011 . Problems in nomenclature and systematics in the subfamily Kalanchoideae (Crassulaceae) over the years . Acta Agrobotanica . 6 . 4. 67–74 .
  9. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=3&taxon_id=116917 Kalanchoe, Chinese Plant Names
  10. Web site: Kalanchoe dineshii (Crassulaceae), a new species from southern Western Ghats, India. 29 March 2023.
  11. Web site: ird.fr: Allorge-Boiteau, L., 1996. Madagascar Centre de Spéciation et d'Origine du Genre Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae). Biogéographie de Madagascar, 1996 : 137-145. 29 March 2023.
  12. Reproductive Strategies: Plants. (1999). In Encyclopedia of Paleontology. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/routpaleont/reproductive_strategies_plants .
  13. Web site: RHS Plantfinder - Kalanchoe 'Tessa' . 14 March 2018.
  14. Web site: RHS Plantfinder - Kalanchoe 'Wendy' . 14 March 2018.
  15. Web site: AGM Plants - Ornamental . July 2017 . 56 . Royal Horticultural Society . 14 March 2018.
  16. Lans . CA . Ethnomedicines used in Trinidad and Tobago for urinary problems and diabetes mellitus . 2006-10-13 . 17040567 . 2 . 45 . 10.1186/1746-4269-2-45 . 1624823 . Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine . free .
  17. Wagner . H . Fischer M . Lotter H . Isolation and Structure Determination of Daigremontianin, a Novel Bufadienolide from Kalanchoe daigremontiana . April 1985 . 3839925 . 2 . 169–70 . 10.1055/s-2007-969441 . Planta Medica . 51.
  18. Supratman . U . Fujita T . Akiyama K . Hayashi H . Insecticidal compounds from Kalanchoe daigremontiana x tubiflora . Phytochemistry . September 2001 . 11551556 . 58 . 2 . 311–4 . 10.1016/S0031-9422(01)00199-6.
  19. Supratman . U . Fujita T . Akiyama K . Hayashi H . Murakami A . Sakai H . Koshimizu K . Ohigashi H . Anti-tumor promoting activity of bufadienolides from Kalanchoe pinnata and K. daigremontiana x tubiflora . April 2001 . 11388478 . 65 . 4 . 947–9 . Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry . 10.1271/bbb.65.947. 45486312 .
  20. Supratman . U . Fujita T . Akiyama K . Hayashi H . New insecticidal bufadienolide, bryophyllin C, from Kalanchoe pinnata . June 2000 . 10923811 . 64 . 6 . 1310–2 . Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry . 10.1271/bbb.64.1310. 25083265 . free .

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