Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam. (1841))

This species is cultivated as an ornamental and is used medicinally.

Succulent, glabrous herb. Stem 0.3-2 m high, branched, erect or ascending, stout, somewhat woody at base. Leaves simple or 3-5 foliate, decussate, imparipinnate, succulent, leaves or leaflets 5-20 x 2.5-12 cm, ovate, ovate-oblong, apex obtuse, base rounded, margin crenate, petiole 2-10 cm long. Inflorescence axillary panicles. Flowers pendulous, large, bisexual, 4-merous, pedicel 10-25 mm long. Calyx glabrous, green with red or red-violet stripes, lobes triangular, acute, 2.1-3 x 0.6-1.2 cm. Corolla lobes glabrous, red or purple, constricted in the lower third, exserted from calyx mouth, acute, 3.4-5.4 x 0.4-0.7 cm. Stamens 8, in two whorls, filaments inserted in lower quarter of corolla , exserted, 2-4.5 mm long. Carpels 6-12 mm long, connate at the base, styles 2-3.5 cm long, numerous ovules per locule. Nectar scale subquadrate, obtuse or emarginate at the apex, 1.5-2.6 x 1-1.8 mm. Follicles 10-14 mm long, enclosed in the persistent papery calyx. Seeds numerous per fruit, obovoid, obtuse at the apex 0.8-1.2 x 0.2-0.35 mm.

Herbs 40-150 cm tall, glabrous. Stems usually branched. Leaf blade pinnately compound with 3-5 leaflets, 10-30 cm; petiolules 2-4 cm; leaflet blades oblong to elliptic, 6-8 × 3-5 cm, margin crenate, apex obtuse. Inflorescences terminal, paniculate, 10-40 cm, many flowered. Flowers pendulous. Calyx tubular, 2-4 cm. Corolla reddish to purple, to 5 cm, base sparsely ciliate; lobes ovate-lanceolate. Stamens inserted basally on corolla. Nectar scales oblong. Follicles included in calyx and corolla tube. Seeds striate. Fl. Jan-Mar.

Throughout the tropics.

Distribution: Native to Tropical Africa, cultivated or naturalized elsewhere.

850 m

Fl.Per.: February-May.

Cultivated and naturalized. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan [native to Africa; naturalized elsewhere].

Crassula pinnata Linnaeus f., Suppl. Pl. 191. 1782; Bryophyllum calycinum Salisbury; Kalanchoe pinnata (Linnaeus f.) Persoon.