''Kalanchoe thyrsiflora'' (also known as paddle plant, flapjacks, desert cabbage, white lady, geelplakkie, meelplakkie, or plakkie ) is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

native to

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

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 William Henry Harvey, FRS FLS (5 February 1811 – 15 May 1866) was an Irish botanist and phycologist who specialised in algae. Biography Harvey was born at Summerville near Limerick, Ireland, in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. His father ...

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 A thyrse is a type of inflorescence in which the main axis grows indeterminately, and the subaxes (branches) have determinate growth.{{cite book , author1=Hickey, M., author2=King, C. , year=2001 , title=The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Bot ...

-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

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