page_title: Bryophyllum pinnatum
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Bryophyllum pinnatum / Description
caption_attribution_description: Goethepflanze (Kalanchoe pinnata) - Blüte, geöffnet, Innere Blütenorgane
context_page_description: Bryophyllum pinnatum, also known as the air plant, cathedral bells, life plant, miracle leaf, and Goethe plant is a succulent plant native to Madagascar, which is a popular houseplant and has become naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas. It is distinctive for the profusion of miniature plantlets that form on the margins of its phylloclades, a trait it has in common with some other members of its genus. Many people also currently call this plant Kalanchoe pinnata. In Assamese it's called Dupor Tenga, Dupor Bon, Paate Goja.
  It is a succulent, perennial plant, about 1 m tall, with a fleshy cylindrical stem and a reddish color for the youngest and it flowers most of the year. The specific epithet "pinnata" is the feminine form of the Latin adjective pinnatus, meaning "winged, pinnate".
context_section_description: The "leaves" of this species are actually leaf-stem combinations called phylloclades. They are thick, fleshy, elliptical in shape, curved, with a crenate or serrated margin, often reddish. Simple at the base of the stem, the phylloclades are imparipinnate at the top, 10–30 cm (4–12 in) long, with three to five pairs of fleshy limb lobes. 
  The phylloclades are remarkable for their ability to produce bulblets. At their margin, between the teeth, adventitious buds appear, which produce roots, stems and leaves. When the plantlets fall to the ground, they root and can become larger plants. This is a fairly common trait in the subgenus Bryophyllum. The fruits are follicles (10–15 mm) which are found in the persistent calyx and corolla.
  The terminal inflorescence is a panicle, with many pendent, red-orange flowers. The calyx is formed of a long tube, red at the base, veined with yellowish green (or green spotted with reddish brown), with four very small triangular lobes at the end. The tubular corolla, with a pronounced constriction separating the subspherical part of the ovoid part, is terminated by four lobes which reaches 5 cm (2.0 in) in length. It is yellowish in color with red-purple streaks. The eight stamens, each about 4 cm (1.6 in) long, are in two whorls, welded on the corolla. The ovary has four carpels, slightly fused together in the center, with slender styles.
caption: Closeup of opening flower.
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