Flora of North America species comparison

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Bryophyllum daigremontianum

devil's backbone, maternity plant
Habit Herbs, monocarpic, purple-mottled, glaucous.
Stems

mostly simple, terete, 5–25 dm × 0.5–2 cm.
Leaves

opposite, evenly spaced, simple, largest subpeltate;

petiole subterete, 1–5 cm;

blade purple-blotched abaxially, triangular to lanceolate, 5–25 × 3–12 cm, margins serrate, apex acute, surfaces glaucous;

bulbils borne in notches of leaf margins, spurs spoon-shaped.
Pedicels

5–15 mm.
Flowers

calyx green or purplish, not inflated, 6–10 mm, tube 3–4 mm, lobes triangular, 3–7 mm, equaling or longer than tube, apex acute;

corolla pink or lavender, 20–30 mm, not contracted basally, lobes obovate, 6–12 mm, apex rounded, apiculate.
Cymes

lax, paniculate, 1.5–3 dm diam.;

branches to 15 cm.
2n

= 38.

Bryophyllum daigremontianum
Phenology Flowering winter.
Habitat Waste ground, mesquite-cactus thickets
Elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; TX; Indian Ocean Islands (Madagascar) [Introduced in North America]
Discussion

Bryophyllum daigremontianum is well established and an aggressive weed in southern Florida and in coastal southern Texas. M. G. Groner (1975) found that exudates of its roots can inhibit the growth of nearby plants, as can extracts of its shoots. The entire plant contains bufadienolides and is toxic to cattle (R. A. McKenzie et al. 1987).

The hybrid Bryophyllum daigremontianum × B. delagoense is much like B. daigremontianum but with narrower leaves; some specimens identified as B. daigremontianum may possibly be the hybrid. The hybrid is widely naturalized in Queensland.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 159.
Parent taxa Crassulaceae > Bryophyllum
Sibling taxa
B. delagoense, B. fedtschenkoi, B. gastonis-bonnieri, B. pinnatum
Synonyms Kalanchoë daigremontiana
Name authority (Raymond-Hamet & H. Perrier) A. Berger: in H. G. A. Engler and K. Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2, 18a: 412. 1930 ,
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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