Kalanchoe is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent flowering plants in the Family Crassulaceae. Most are shrubs or perennial herbaceous plants, but a few are annual or biennial. The largest, Kalanchoe beharensis from Madagascar, can reach 6 m tall, but most species are less than 1 m tall.
Members of Kalanchoe genus are characterized by opening 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.
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 vegetative growth.
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 indents along the leaves.
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.
