Author:
Qjure
Book:
Qjurious
Type:
Info
Chapter:
3-662.17.12
Bryophyllum pinnatum
English: Air Plant; Life Plant; Miracle Leaf; Goethe Plant; Mother of millions.
Synonym: Kalanchoe pinnatum.
Names: Saião; Chinese: Kalan chau; Coirama, Brasil; Peru, Hoja del aire = air plant.
Indonesian: Sosor bebek.
Region: Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius; widely naturalized throughout the tropics.
Habitat: open settled areas, dry second-growth forests; roadsides; sunny position but tolerant of some shade; tolerant of a wide range of soils and conditions; drought tolerant.
Content: bufadienolide cardiac glycosides; malic acid; fumaric acid; saponins, cicatrizant.
Culture: Goethe plant; Rudolf Steiner introduced it to Athroposophy.
Use: medicinal; ornamental, houseplant in colder areas; shampoo.
Botany
Erect, evergreen, usually unbranched, smooth, succulent herb; 40 to 200 cm tall; spreads by small plantlets produced on the leaves; robust, tall, vigorous, difficult to eradicate, a weed.
Stems: more or less woody, especially near the base; more or less leafless when blooming.
Taxonomy
Descoings proposed to combine the three genera Bryophyllum, Kitchingia and Kalanchoe into the single genus Kalanchoe.
Literature
Descoings B.; Le genre Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae): structure et definition; J. Bot. Soc. Bot. France 33, 3-28; 2006.