Kalanchoe pumila, the flower dust plant,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae,[2] native to Madagascar. The Latin specific epithet pumila means dwarf or low-growing.[3]
| Kalanchoe pumila | |
|---|---|
| |
| K. pumila, University of California Botanical Garden | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Saxifragales |
| Family: | Crassulaceae |
| Genus: | Kalanchoe |
| Species: | K. pumila
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| Binomial name | |
| Kalanchoe pumila | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Kalanchoe brevicaulis Baker | |
Description
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Growing to 20 cm (8 in) tall and 45 cm (18 in) wide, it is a spreading, dwarf succulent subshrub with arching stems of frosted leaves, and clusters of purple-veined pink flowers in spring. The plant forms dense clusters and sometimes grows epiphytically. It is completely glabrous and reaches heights of 20 to 30 centimeters. The shoots are erect, heavily branched and creeping.
The often densely packed, fleshy leaves are almost sessile and obovate. The leaf blade, completely covered with very fine, mealy, white wax , is 2 to 4 centimeters long and 1.5 to 2 centimeters wide. Its tip is blunt to almost pointed, the base is wedge-shaped. The purple leaf edge is notched in the upper part.
Inflorescence
editThe inflorescences are few-flowered panicles between 2 and 7 centimeters wide which sit on waxy, 6 to 10 millimeter long flower stalks. The green or red-purple calyx tube is 0.5 to 1 millimeter long and has triangular to lanceolate, pointed tips that are 3 to 5 millimeters long and 1.5 to 2.6 millimeters wide. The bell-shaped, red to purple or pink corolla tube is 4 to 8.5 millimeters long and has spread out, obovate to elongated tips that are 7 to 10 millimeters long and 3 to 5 millimeters wide. The petals have a tip.
The kidney-shaped anthers are between 0.5 and 0.7 millimeters long. The style is 8 to 10 millimeters, the carpel about 1.5 millimeters long. The marginal nectar scales are rectangular to elongated.
Cultivation
editThis plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[4][5] As the minimum temperature for cultivation is 12 °C (54 °F), in temperate regions it is grown under glass as a houseplant.[6] In its natural habitat, it grows on rocks, at an altitude of about 2000 m.
References
edit- ^ "Kalanchoe pumila". World of Succulents. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ "Kalanchoe pumila Baker". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
- ^ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN 9781845337315.
- ^ "RHS Plant Selector - Kalanchoe pumila". Retrieved 7 September 2020.
- ^ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 56. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.