Showing posts with label Crassulaceae. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crassulaceae. Show all posts

Friday 13 September 2019

Christmas kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) – Sikkim Flora





Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Plantae
Order:            Saxifragales
Family:           Crassulaceae
Genus:            Kalanchoe
Species:          K. blossfeldiana

Binomial name : Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Poelln.

Other Names:  Flaming Katy, Christmas kalanchoe and Madagascar widow's-thrill

Special feature: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a herbaceous and commonly cultivated house plant of the genus Kalanchoe native to Madagascar.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a glabrous, bushy, evergreen and perennial succulent plant which (in 2–5 years) can reach an ultimate height of between 30–45 cm (12-18 in.) and an ultimate spread of between 10–50 cm (4-20 in.). K. blossfeldiana has a round habit and a moderate plant density; its growth rate has been described as 'slow'. The plant has green, shiny and textured glossy foliage which stays green all year round. The scallop-edged and ovate leaves are arranged in an opposite/subopposite fashion, are simple in type with crenate margins and an oblong shape. The arrangement of the veins in a leaf (venation) can be absent or very hard to see; the leaf blades are 5–10 cm (2-4 in.) long.

K. blossfeldiana flowers in late autumn to early winter; each flower has four petals and can be one of a wide variety of colours, from the dark reds and pinks to oranges, golds and whites. The ovary is tetracarpellary and apocarpous while stamens are four in number and are epipetalous. The inflorescences are born by peduncles which are higher up than the leaves and are terminal in nature. Parts of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana are poisonous if ingested.. (Source: Wikipedia)

Identified by: Debasis Chattopadhyay
                        Ask IDs of Indian Plants ( Facebook Page)

Friday 10 November 2017

Panfuti (Bryophyllum pinnatum) - Sikkim Flora



Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Plantae
Order              Saxifragales
Family:           Crassulaceae
Genus:            Bryophyllum
Species:           Bryophyllum pinnatum

Binomial name: Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken

Other Names:  Air Plant, Life Plant, Cathedral Bells, Goethe Plant, Patharkuchi (Bengali), Panfuti (Maharastra)

Special feature: Bryophyllum pinnatum is a succulent plant native to Madagascar, which is a popular houseplant and has become naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas.

The writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - who also was an amateur naturalist of some repute - was "passionately fond" of this plant and liked to give the baby plantlets as gifts to friends who visited his home. He also discussed his air plant at length in an essay titled Geschichte meiner botanischen Studien ("History of my botanical studies").

Bryophyllum pinnatum has been found to contain bufadienolide cardiac glycosides. These can cause cardiac poisoning, particularly in grazing animals.

Bryophyllum pinnatum has been recorded in Trinidad and Tobago as being used as a traditional treatment for hypertension. The juice made of Bryophylum is useful for cure of kidneystones, although there is no evidence-based clinical indication for these uses in modern medicine and, indeed, such usage could prove dangerous and even fatal in some cases. (Wikipedia)