This vigorous, vining species can swallow surrounding plants if not pruned to keep it under control. In the wild, taller, woody plants do the heavy photosynthetic lifting of growing stout stems to rise above surrounding vegetation into the light, while the slender-stemmed kalanchoe concentrates on length over girth. In a collection, therefore, it is wise to contain the plant in a hanging basket or on a trellis, preventing it from becoming overly friendly with its neighbors. The most common form of K. beauverdii in cultivation has simple leaves that are sickle shaped and cryptic dark-purple in color, blending into the shadows created by its supporting hosts. Its bell-shaped flowers are surprisingly large, coming from such slender stems, and are a most unusual gray color. The form offered here has more variable leaves that are pale green to tan and are linear to trilobate-hastate (shaped like an arrowhead). Its flowers are slightly larger, and of a similar unusual gray to greenish color, finely speckled with red. We offer small plants from bulbils of HBG 123424, $7.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 90 (2), Summer 2018