Kalanchoe thyrsiflora
{{Short description|Species of succulent}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, habitus, Spitskop, a.jpg
|image_caption = Kalanchoe thyrsiflora
|genus = Kalanchoe
|species = thyrsiflora
|authority = Harv.
|synonyms = {{species list |Kalanchoe alternans|Eckl. & Zeyh. ex Harv.}}
}}
Kalanchoe thyrsiflora (also known as paddle plant, flapjacks, desert cabbage, white lady, geelplakkie, meelplakkie, or plakkie{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}) is a species of flowering plant in the Stonecrop Family (Crassulaceae) and native to Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Eswatini. This plant is rare in cultivation, and those plants labelled as "Kalanchoe thyrsiflora" in horticulture are mostly another similar species, Kalanchoe luciae.{{Cite web |title=Flapjacks, Kalanchoe spp. |url=https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/flapjacks-kalanchoe-spp/ |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=Wisconsin Horticulture |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Hankey |first=Andrew |last2=Werner Voigt |first2=Werner |date=2019 |title=Kalanchoe thyrsiflora |url=https://pza.sanbi.org/kalanchoe-thyrsiflora-0 |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=PlantZAfrica}} It is one of the few succulents which flower and fruit once only (monocarpic).{{cite book | last1= Turner | first1= R.J. Jr. | last2= Wasson | first2= Ernie | date= 1999 | title= Botanica | location= not stated | publisher= Barnes & Noble | page= 495 | ISBN= 0760716420 }} A peculiarity of the species is that the round leaves are held in a vertical posture.
Taxonomy
The name Kalanchoe thyrsiflora was first validly published for this southern African species by William Henry Harvey in 1862.{{cite web |title=Kalanchoe thyrsiflora|url=http://beta.ipni.org/n/274500-1|website=ipni.org |publisher=International Plant Names Index|access-date=2018-10-03}} Based on an error introduced in The Plant List in 2012, the name K. thyrsiflora has been treated by some as a synonym of K. tetraphylla.{{cite web |title=The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/ |website=The Plant List |access-date=17 September 2018 |ref=The Plant List}} However, these two names apply to two distinct species.{{cite book |last1=Boiteau |first1=P. |last2=Allorge-Boiteau |first2=L. |title=Kalanchoe (Crassulacées) de Madagascar. Systématique, Écophysiologie et Phytochimie |date=1995 |publisher=Éditions Karthala |location=Paris |isbn=2-86537-595-1 |ref=Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau}}{{cite book |last=Descoings |first=B. |editor-last=Eggli |editor-first=U. |title= Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants |publisher=Berlin: Springer Verlag |date=2003 |pages=143–181 |chapter=Crassulaceae |isbn=978-3-642-62629-6}}{{cite web|title=Kalanchoe thyrsiflora|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:274500-1|website=Plants of the World Online|publisher=Royal Botanical Gardens Kew |access-date=2018-10-02}}{{cite web|title=Kalanchoe tetraphylla|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:274499-1|website=Plants of the World Online|publisher=Royal Botanical Gardens Kew |access-date=2018-10-02}} The name K. tetraphylla dates from 1923 and applies to a different species confined to Madagascar.
Description
It is a succulent plant producing a stalk about 1m tall, which dies back after flowering. It forms a basal rosette of large, rounded, fleshy, stalkless leaves, which are grayish-green with red margins, covered with a white powdery bloom. The inflorescence is terminal and erect with densely clustered thyrse-like panicles of greenish waxy flowers with yellow recurved lobes, narrowly urn-shaped. The plant flowers from autumn to spring, and is common in grassveld amongst rocks.
Gallery
Kalanchoe thyrsiflora MS2011ZA463.jpg|Flowering plant
Kalanchoe thyrsiflora00.jpg|Flowers and buds
Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, bloeiwyse, Spitskop, d.jpg|Inflorescence
Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 5Dsr 6171.jpg|Bunch of flowers
Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 5Dsr 6321.jpg|Flower close up
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Kalanchoe thyrsiflora}}
- [http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantklm/kalanthyrs.htm PlantZAfrica.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718063715/http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantklm/kalanthyrs.htm |date=2008-07-18 }}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q138187}}
Category:Flora of South Africa