Kalanchoe pinnata

Common Name: cathedral bells

Family: Crassulaceae

Common Synonyms: none

USDA Hardiness Zone: 10a-11

Growth Habit: Perennial Herb

Origin: Madagascar and Asia

FISC Category: 2

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: Earliest Florida specimen vouchered in 1943

IFAS Assessment:

• North: CAUTION
• Central: INVASIVE
• South: INVASIVE

Description

Succulent, perennial herb to 1.5 m tall. The stems are hollow, fleshy, dark green. Leaves are scalloped and red along margins. Flowers are bell-like and pendulous.

Habitat

Coastal uplands, floodplain wetlands, mesic and xeric uplands

Comments

Often found along the edges of conservation lands where landscape materials have been dumped. Used as a medicinal plant by indigenous people in the Amazon for a wide variety of purposes.

Control Methods

• Manual: Mechanical: Hand pull. Follow-up hand removal of leaves is necessary to prevent leaves from producing new plants. [IFAS]
• Chemical: Foliar (5% glyphosate). [IFAS]
• Biological: NA

Control Notes

Often found along edges of natural areas, generally as a result of discarded landscape material.

References

Dave's Garden. 2014. PlantFiles: Air Plant, Kalanchoe pinnata. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/68271/. Accessed on June 20, 2014.

Langeland, K.A., J.A. Ferrell, B. Sellers, G.E. MacDonald, and R.K. Stocker. 2011. Integrated management of non-native plants in natural areas of Florida. EDIS publication SP 242. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

National Tropical Botanical Garden. 2014. Meet the Plants: Kalanchoe pinnata (Crassulaceae). http://ntbg.org/plants/plant_details.php?plantid=11825. Accessed June 26, 2014.

Wunderlin, R. P., and B. F. Hansen. 2008. Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/).[S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.