''Kalanchoe thyrsiflora'' (also known as paddle plant, flapjacks, desert cabbage, white lady, geelplakkie, meelplakkie, or plakkie ) is a
species of
flowering plant native to
Botswana,
Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
,
South Africa and
Swaziland
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
.
Taxonomy
The name ''Kalanchoe thyrsiflora'' was first validly published for this southern African species by
William Henry Harvey in 1862.
Based on an error introduced in
The Plant List
The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden and launched in 2010. It was intended to be a comprehensive record of all known names of plant species ...
in 2012, the name ''K. thyrsiflora'' has been treated by some as a synonym of ''K. tetraphylla''. However, these two names apply to two distinct species.
The name ''K. tetraphylla'' dates from 1923 and applies to a different species confined to Madagascar.
Description
It is a
succulent plant
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
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
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur nat ...
amongst rocks.
Gallery
File:Kalanchoe thyrsiflora00.jpg, Flowers
File:Kalanchoe thyrsiflora01.jpg, Habit and habitat
File:Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 1zz.jpg, Leaves close up
File:Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 5Dsr 6321.jpg, Flower close up
File:Kalanchoe thyrsiflora Flap Jack 2zz.jpg, Red tinged leaves
File:Kalanchoe thyrsiflora Flap Jack 1zz.jpg, Top view of leaves
File:Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 5Dsr 6171.jpg, Bunch of flowers
References
External links
PlantZAfrica.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q138187
Flora of South Africa
tetraphylla
Plants described in 1862